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> Farewell from Leslie Cagan, Chair of iPNB
Comments from Leslie Cagan, Chair
of the Outgoing Interim Pacifica National Board
Friday, March 12, 2004
Maybe this is a symbol of the new Pacifica, everyone is
all crowded together up here. Maybe that's a good sign. I
would like to get this meeting started. My name is Leslie
Cagan and I am the outgoing chair of the old, old, old interim
Pacifica board. I have one more job to do and that is to get
this meeting up and running. I'd like to, if it's okay with
folks, take a few minutes to say a few things.
Well, look at this, look at where we are...and what a long,
strange trip it's been!
Tonight we close a chapter on Pacifica's history. We finally,
2 years and 3 months later, move out of the interim period
and fully into the new governance structure of Pacifica. Tonight,
a little bit of history is made as you, the new national board,
take your seats on a board that comes together as the result
of a democratic election process - the first democratically
constructed governance structure of a national media outlet.
Take a big round of applause for yourselves.
Something very precious has been built, is being built.
It came out of years of intense struggle, sometimes bitter,
hurtful, nasty struggle. It also comes from a history that
goes back more than 50 years.
As I step aside I want to take a moment to share a few thoughts.
You have probably heard some of these thoughts before, some
of them may be a little newer.
The Pacifica Foundation is more than the sum of its parts.
It is also its history, its role in broadcasting in this country,
its relationship to cutting edge artistic and cultural activity,
its partnership with and involvement in the movements for
progressive social change, the struggle for peace and justice.
The new national board and the local stations boards are
charged with setting policy and direction for Pacifica's five
stations and the other activities and parts of this foundation.
You are the governance leadership of the foundation. That
means you have been entrusted with protecting the foundation,
steering it in partnership with the staff; which is completely
different from promoting your own agenda, no matter how righteous
that agenda might be.
Governance is also completely different from management.
I dare say, it probably will make sense to take a look, a
thorough look, at how our stations and the whole foundation
is managed. But taking that look at those management structures
and coming up with possible recommendations for changes is
a far cry from actually being the management of those stations
or of the national foundation.
The new structure of the Pacifica Foundation, as captured
in the bylaws, will work if everyone understands the core
principal of cooperation and sharing power. This will not
work if one part of the Pacifica structure seeks control over
the other parts. It will only work if there is a living commitment
to cooperation and power sharing.
Pacifica is, at its core, a network of five radio stations
whose licenses are held, protected by the national organization...as
well as an expanding program of affiliated stations. And I
must say that that set of relationships, with the affiliated
stations, must be take seriously and nurtured. Some of the
best, most creative community radio comes from those affiliated
stations. There are the other parts of the Pacifica Foundation,
the archives, the work on the web, all the programs and the
programs ahead of us, that must be taken seriously and nurtured.
There is always a tension between the individual stations
and the national entity. Part of me, to be honest, wants to
say, "Get over it!", but I do understand that it
is more complicated than that. The challenge is to make each
of these 5 stations the strongest, most powerful stations
they can be, each grounded in the richness and diversity of
its communities. At the same time, I believe each of our stations
will be strengthened by its participation in a strong, coherent
national network. Tension does not always have to mean hostility
or competition (in the worst sense of that word). There can
be a creativity that comes from tension, and that's what Pacifica
needs.
It is time to stop, it is time to end, it is time to halt,
it is time to get over the attacks, the accusations, the manipulation
and the rest of the ugly and at times de-mobilizing ways that
sometimes struggle has been played out within our own ranks.
Having different opinions, and strongly held different opinions,
does not mean we are the enemies of one another. So much,
too much, has been couched in personal, individual terms and
for the sake of the common good, I hope this destructive style
can came to an end as we move into the building of the new
Pacifica.
In that context, we must re-double our efforts to pay attention
to race and gender dynamics throughout this foundation. If
we do not take on whole heartedly the struggle against racism
and sexism within our own ranks none of the other work we
set out to do will be possible.
This network, the Pacifica network, is needed in this country,
and dare I say, in the world more than ever before. Every
single day the news of war, environmental degradation, economic
strangulation, racist/sexist/homophobic violence... and you
know the list, the list is too long, much too long. That is
the work of Pacifica: to take all that on, to deal with that
world, to deal with our own communities.
Pacifica is a precious resource. And this new structure,
that comes out of sweat and tears over many years of hard
work, hopefully will be a vehicle for protecting this most
precious resource.
I hope that the members of this new board and the local
station boards are engaged in more than just their station
or their work in Pacifica as a national entity. You must be
grounded in the events and movements of the world around us:
how else can we analyze and understand and figure out Pacifica's
best contribution at this moment in history?
So, after this first order of business I will step down.
I am proud to have been part of the struggle to re-claim Pacifica,
and the struggle to re-build Pacifica. Today, as I step aside
I am proud of the contribution I've made and sorry that at
times I could not have done more. Yes, I've made mistakes,
even regret some of the things I've done or some of the things
I've not done, although those things are probably not what
I've been attacked for over the years.
But I do step down very proud of the work that not only
I but all of us have done to get us to this moment in the
history of Pacifica. Now, once I am done with my limited role
here tonight, I will go back out there and sit with all of
you and I become a regular old listener sponsor, a regular
old member of Pacifica. But let me say this very clearly,
if necessary, I will again become a listener activist! Thank
you.
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