Samia A. Halaby (member of Al-Awda [Palestine Right of Return Coalition], NY Committee to Defend Palestine, and Al Jisser Group [cultural events]; painter, writer)

Click here for her candidate statement

Samia A. Halaby

WBAI Candidate Questionnaire

1. Why do you want to be on the Local Station Board?

I want to ensure that WBAI will reflect the people's voice, a voice that is rarely heard in commercial or public media; a voice that is labeled as “minority” in this land. Our voices together are really the majority and should be strongly represented at the station. This is why I am proud to be running with the WBAI Justice and Unity Campaign, www.justiceunity.org.

2. How do you envision the local Board working with Pacifica Foundation, WBAI, and the community?

I envision the local Board collaborating with WBAI, the Pacifica Foundation, in ways that will strengthen all of them but maintain the independence and power-of-decision of the local Board. The local Board has more extensive knowledge of the needs of its listening area and can more effectively arrive at solutions to local problems. The WBAI community -- their interests, their wishes, their representation, and their education --should be uppermost. I would encourage the local Board to find ways to involve more communities in the station's programming.

3. How could the station better serve its listeners?

WBAI does wonderful work and that work should be intensified and made more powerful, if possible. Well-prepared educational programs are something WBAI is able to do -- the more the better. There should be as much programming as possible that mirrors the many cultural communities in the greater area of New York City. Programming that seeks the help of cultural and political activists is a good way to both expose the various communities to each other and stimulate participation.

4. Describe some actions you would take to increase the influence of the station in underrepresented communities and to increase the diversity of the listening audience.

A team willing to personally attend community events, request time to present information about the station within their programs to their constitutencies, and seek their membership and involvement in the station, including possible co-sponsorship of station events, is one possibility.

5. What sources of funding, other than listener donations, do you feel WBAI should solicit?

I would not solicit from sources where strings are attached. To keep WBAI independent, the listeners must pay. I do have a great deal of experience in mounting fundraising events, and would bring that experience to the organization of fund-raising events for WBAI.

6. Please state briefly the skills, experience, educational background, work history, organizational affiliations, areas of community service, areas of interest and expertise that you would bring to the Pacifica network as a member of the Local Station Board.

I am a painter, writer, and political activist. For 17 years, I taught courses in the practice of art and its history on the university level. I have a Master of Fine Arts degree. I am a member of Al-Awda (the Palestine Right of Return Coalition), the New York Committee to Defend Palestine, and Al Jisser Group (a group that seeks to present cultural events). The areas of my community service lie in my activism, attempting to help organize the people's voice. My community service in the recent period was a huge effort to bring the "Made in Palestine" exhibition to New York. I have also spent a lot of time in activism in the aid of Palestine and now Lebanon.

As a member of the Local Station Board, my biggest contribution would be my point of view as a progressive Palestinian who is part of a struggle that continues despite huge odds, and my optimism that we will endure to win a secular state where equality is for all, including Christians, Muslims, and Jews. With this attitude, I will collaborate with my brothers and sisters of various national origins -- who, I hope, will make up the majority of the board.

7. Do you anticipate missing any Local Station Board meetings due to family or job related problems or inadequate transportation?

Fortunately, family and job duties are not a problem, nor is transportation.

8. On which Local Station Board committees are you interested in actively serving? If you are a current Local Station Board member, on which committees do you currently serve?

My successful experience in organizing and fundraising for a variety of organizations makes the Membership, Outreach, and Fundraising Committee the most obvious choice. This experience includes two full years doing fundraising events that made it possible for Al Jisser Group (a group devoted to build a bridge between Arab art and the international art world) to rent a space in Chelsea and open our own art gallery, which we have made available to grassroots organizations for their own events.

Contact: samia@justiceunity.org