Promises Made--That Will be Kept

Promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep.

When I ran for the KBOO Board in 2000, and recently was voted unanimously to serve on the present KBOO Board, I made promises that I intended and still intend to keep. My platform then in 2000 was the same as the recent one in answering the questions put to me by the KBOO Board.

My motive in coming to KBOO was never programming in terms of my own program. I am a teacher and lecture all over the world and did/do not need a megaphone. I am heartened, however,  by the support that we never solicited, but nonetheless got, from listeners to Mitakuye Oyasin in Russia, Italy, Turkey, Denmark and other countries. My motive was to try to nurture at least one place on the bandwithdth where the voices of the "nobodies", "nameless", "voiceless", "outcasts", "renegades", the most oppressed, those with whom I cast my lot long ago, could be heard, and, where questions that the likes of the New York Times or Washington Post would never pose could and would be posed. I am also very mindful always of the sacrifices made by KBOO volunteers and supporters, who often give so much when earning and having so little, and who have every right to expect that the station will be run for and represent them and that no funds, or precious air time, will be squandered by backroom cliques, petty megalomaniacs, narcissists, empire builders, crony networks, backroom cabals and other types that infest so much of the so-called "progressive left" and that have caused and are causing the implosions of many co-op radio stations (do a Google search).

Imagine going to a meeting and being told by the temporary or whatever "chairperson" that, in reference to  the title of our show, Mitakuye Oyasin, that has been on KBOO since 1994, this person has a hard time with "foreign languages and names" and thus "will not even try to pronounce the words" in this "foreign language" of  Lakota, or even inquire what the words mean. How is this possible for anyone in this day and age to be so blatant about their obvious willful ignorance of what it means to hear an Indigenous language referred to as a "foreign language"--a typical Eurocentric settler mentality. 

Imagine that 15 minutes are simply ordered by some temporary chairperson, and this person  takes up some of it with what appears to be pure filibustering,  to hear documented facts that were never considered, in lieu of the provable falsehoods taken without opportunity for rebuttal that were taken (and when the proved falsehoods were known and documented  after a decision was made, but not yet implemented), to summarily cancel Mitakuye Oyasin over any and all protests, and, with clear proof that the "facts" critical to a decision taken were not facts at all. Instead of admitting and correcting the errors and very problematic management practices that almost all admit took place, with plain refusal to even seek the views of all sides of an issue by all who will be impacted by a decision to cancel Mitakuye Oyasin before making the decision, the insult and disrespect, and apparent cover-up and face-saving,  continues with this temporary chairperson summarily "ordering" that Mitakuye Oyasin is on "probation" ("we will be listening carefully--good maybe she will learn how to pronounce in that "foreign language" and what the words mean) for four weeks (during pledge weeks) and then will review the documents that were already presented to, and summarily rejected without cause by,  the person who already made and implemented the decision under appeal; but somehow all of this was somehow "new" to this advisory body that claim not to have been involved in the decision  to cancel Mitakuye Oyasin.

All over the world, petty tyrants, megalomaniacs,toxic psychopaths, smug and entitled "elites", and divas of all sorts are under siege by the vicissitudes of the system and the reactions of the masses to them. The world is shaking, and such types are quaking, and with the technologies of destruction of the whole planet that exist, we simply cannot afford unchecked, non-transparent, non-accountable power especially in the hands of petty despots, often afraid of an "outside world" in which they would likely be unemployable and in deep trouble if they had to actually compete for work and meet standards and demonstrate skills  that the masses of people have to demonstrate every day. When push comes to shove there is simply not much demand for self-important divas, petty tyrants and small-frog-in-a-tiny-pond posturers and posers as they typically not only parasitically live off the talents and sweat of others, while really producing nothing but toxicity and mayhem, but worse, they actually interfere with those who really do produce something of value. Mitakuye Oyasin has always stood as a kind of flashlight and microscope/macroscope on all forms of oppression no matter where, by whom, against whom without fear or favor. 

So here were and are my promises to KBOO members and that I intend to keep if possible.

Greetings to potential board candidates-

Below are a few questions I have. I appreciate the time you take to respond to them. Please be sure to respond so that all board members can see your response. I have also included the staff members on this since I am not clear still on who is doing what with the board in taking over station manager responsibilities.

Thanks much.

judy