Chris Brown Candidate Statement

I know first-hand what disinformation can do to affect every day people's lives, in particular those of women and people of color. I grew up in apartheid South Africa until I was eight years old. My father, a known Black South African resistance fighter was jailed and tortured and considered “An enemy of the State.” Those within the White world of the country feared him because of the slander that was printed in the newspapers and spoken over the radio, as well they did with all antiapartheid activists.

In 1999 when the station was locked down I came to stand with others to protest against our fundamental right that KPFA belongs to the community! We, all of us, volunteers paid and unpaid alike own this station. Now more than ever I want to see all communities benefit-- and I mean really benefit from this station and what is has to offer. I'd like to see programming that appeals to a younger audience as well as the long-standing listeners; management that respects collective bargaining of the workers (whether they be paid or unpaid), and most importantly I would like to hear from our listeners; Those whom give five dollars or 100, those who give of their time to stuff envelopes in the volunteer office, of how they want this station to move forward as a people's radio station.

Independent -- and I mean real independent -- media can only happen at places like KPFA. We need to become the media. We can't rely on the mainstream to eventually come around -- heck not even NPR for that matter -- but within us as a collective group things can change.

We showed what we could do in 1999 and it can happen again, and I want to be your representative to make that happen! My candidacy has been endorsed by Dennis Bernstein and Nora Barrows-Friedman, co-hosts of Flashpoints.