Civil Rights on the Airwaves

Thanks to the passage of the Local Community Radio Act, 2012 offers the largest expansion of community radio in U.S. history. But for whom?

Radio remains relevant in our communities, yet people of color own only 7 percent of radio stations. Commercial media consolidation and unfair restrictions on community radio have narrowed already limited access to the airwaves for communities of color. Unable to get an FCC license, Albert Knighten was recently arrested and charged with running an unlicensed station serving the black community of Dunbar, Florida with gospel music and local public affairs programs. With an opportunity to transform the national radio landscape on the horizon for 2012, Knighten missed his own arraignment to come to Washington and share his story. He joined other grassroots leaders from across the country to discuss the challenges and successes of building community radio in communities of color.

Cosponsored by Prometheus Radio Project, Media Action Grassroots Network, Color of Change, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Free Press, and New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative.

Listen to audio this event:

Participants

Featured Speakers
Kai Aiyetoro
Board of Directors
Prometheus Radio Project

John Freeman
Founder and Executive Director
KOCZ in Opelousas, LA

Albert Knighten
Founder
Dunbar Community Radio, Dunbar, FL

Jabari Moketsi
Founder and CEO
Gullah Sentinel, Beaufort, SC

Danielle Mkali
Media Justice Organizer
Main Street Project, Minneapolis, MN

Steven Renderos
Media Justice Program Director
Main Street Project, Minneapolis, MN

Moderator
Corrine Yu
Senior Counsel and Managing Policy Director
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Special introductions
Rashad Robinson
Executive Director
Color of Change

Joe Torres
Senior Adviser for Government and External Affairs, Free Press
Co-author of News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media

Betty Yu
Coordinator
MAG-Net