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Frank Fitzgerald's Conversations with Mimi and Miguel
The following was a reply to a post on the Goodlight WBAI Message Board regarding the July 12th Concerned Friends of WBAI General meeting at St. Paul and St Andrew Church in Manhattan. Mimi Rosenberg and Miguel Maldanado (chair) are members of the WBAI LAB.
Paul,
I think you make excellent points re moving ahead to achieve an elected LAB. I agree with your statements that an election, or even the attempt to hold one, would serve to focus a spotlight on Utrice's true beliefs regarding serving the people. I would hope that elections could serve to draw many together in our fractured community and could be an energizing force that would help to revitalize WBAI. Who knows - it might even help to build audience.
After the meeting I talked for a few minutes to Mimi and Miguel separately and questioned them about their resistance to elections. Mimi stated (passionately) her opinion that the draft document (paraphrasing) was sterile, with no "political" viewpoint or message. She argued, as she did during her presentation, that the elections creation process has people tied up in endless meetings and is draining resources from what is really needed: political action to oust Utrice and the PNB corporatists.
I questioned her (non)political characterization of the elections draft document and asked if the politics wouldn't come from the people? Wouldn't the people bring their politics to the election... and isn't that where politics should come from - from the grass roots? She said "no." I am afraid I cannot relate her reasoning... she may have stated it, but I don't recall. I argued that the elections might bring the people out... and that there was something not being addressed - that our demonstrations have really been rather unlarge... that there were no more than a few hundred people out for Democracy Now, a program that almost everyone believes is a lightning rod in this struggle. What is wrong with this picture, I asked. Why can we not get more people out? Mimi ticked off a number of demos and meetings that have recently been taking place around the city, but I still did not hear significant numbers. I also emphasized that there is something wrong with the fact that the protests and meetings are so predominantly white.
I do not know why the numbers are what they are. It could be a sign of the times (general apathy). Another possibility is "a pox on both your houses." If this is the case, I believe an LAB election could, as I have said, bring folks out.
Somewhat as an aside, I found Mimi's suggestion of one possible political action we might take - the staging of a "trial" (of the bad guys) as a forum - to be wildly naive and, unless shooting yourself in the foot is your goal, fraught with danger. Of course, the goal of such a forum would be to keep it tightly controlled, with the verdict a forgone conclusion... but what if Utrice had a champion... maybe Maddox? He is no dummy, and can be quite persuasive. Would stuff come out about Valerie and Bernard and (could it be possible?) Mimi that wouldn't look so good? In addition to which is the specter of a witch trial... good against evil. Frankly, the suggestion of a "trial" leaves me reeling. It sounds like the kind of thing that only the truly self-righteous would ever propose. I think this becomes especially obvious if one considers the divided loyalties among producers that is talked about much - and the fact that the left is continually depicted as fools who are their own worst enemies.
I asked Miguel if we got the WBAI subscription list and used it as the basis for the electors, how could such an election not bring about diversity? Of course, he said we would never get such a list, but I persisted - what if we did? He said the list would not "represent what NY is about." He didn't seem very interested in being more specific, but I took it to mean the subscriber base would not be diverse (or something) enough for him. I tried a couple of different possible scenarios. One was, "Why couldn't you just work your bippy off to get your people out to vote - and ensure diversity that way?" He didn't go for this argument. Don't know why... maybe I can get him and Mimi to drop by here and explain their positions better than I have.
One parting thought about the LAB and its members. I was really pleased when I heard Sybil Wong say to Gary Null that the LAB has never called a "town meeting." I would like to say "Amen" to that. The fact is, almost no one knows who the LAB members are, what their individual positions are, and who they "represent." I am not aware of any attempt over the years by any LAB to actively encourage listener involvement. I find it extremely hard to believe that they are not aware of this forum (WBAI Issues message board at http://goodlight.net/wbai) and others (egroups). Why they do not seek to engage us - we the people - in a feisty, rambling or focused, creative exchange of ideas says a great deal, I believe, about our current predicament. Even hackneyed Republican and Democrat office holders get out and mix with the masses once in a while. Why are LAB members not reaching out to us sincerely - and on a regular basis?
Peace,
Frank
CC by email: (LAB members) Miguel Maldonado, Mimi Rosenberg, Connie Hogarth, Lee Kronick, Ray Laforest, Andrew NorrisBack to WBAI Menu
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