I remember the evening several years ago when I met my family for dinner at the seafood joint and told them that I was going to be on the radio every week.  I don’t know why I thought they would be as excited as I was, because my father’s eyes got wide and his face turned white as a sheet.  “You better be damn careful,” warned my father, “you better be careful what you say, you don’t know what someone will do if they don’t like what you say.”  I almost choked on my shrimp cocktail.  I was crestfallen, but now that I’m a father myself I certainly understand what it is to be concerned about the safety of your child.
 
As most KPFT, Pacifica, and Democracy Now listeners probably know by now, someone fired a bullet through the window in our studio the other night, missing by precious little Mary Thomas, one of my colleagues.  Like me, Mary works as a volunteer without any pay.  Mary does a music show, while I do a public affairs show, and Mary works late at night while I’m in the morning.  In fact, I don’t think she and I have met, but that doesn’t matter, we share a bond in that we are dedicated to doing radio that is not even allowed, much less compensated, anywhere else on the public airwaves here in the nation’s fourth largest city.
 
In the past few days, I’ve had misgivings about the station using this incident, as it has been doing, as a means to raise money.  It’s seemed to me, well, a bit cheesy, perhaps even a bit desperate sounding, to put up requests for dough.  Why not just leave the money thing alone for a bit?  And it seems to fly in the face of a recent successful fund drive, and in the face of regular monthly management reports that the station is on solid financial footing.  It’s a brave face, but as a financial advisor I could never tell a client that they’re on solid financial footing with a handful of months of savings.
 
But then I changed my mind.  For if the way that programmers show their courage is to return to the air, to come and sit in the exact same room where a shot was fired a few days before, then the way that our audience shows courage is through both words and funds.  Yes, it’s going to cost money to enhance security.  Yes, we probably should have done it before.  Yes, it’s a shame that it needs to be done.  Yes, it’s a shame that KPFT almost alone has a history of enduring attacks.  But like all things, problems present opportunity, and we clearly see that the opportunity in this act of violence is to make the case again, in this latest context, that we need your support, and that without your support, we would all, station and listeners alike, be poorer for it.  In a sense, by giving you the chance to directly help defray the cost of the security upgrades, we are giving you the chance to make a direct statement to the person who fired the gun: I will protect my station against you.
 
For no matter what the motivation of this shooting, KPFT stands every day against its motive.  Whether out of random violence, KPFT stands for healthy, safe, and secure communities.  Whether out of emotional or mental disturbance, KPFT stands for adequate mental healthcare in our nation and world.  Or whether out of political hatred, KPFT stands for peaceful and non-violent solutions.
 
We don’t do everything right here.  Like anyone, I’ve got my own issues with station financing and program scheduling, and sometimes I want to scream at things that I think are obvious.  But when it comes right down to it, what you now know after the other night is that every time you turn on your radio and listen to KPFT, you are hearing not just a radio station, but a steady, uninterrupted succession of small acts of courage.  Each show is its own small act of courage.  Whether it is Mary daring to play roots music that is ignored by commercial stations.  Or Ray broadcasting information about our prison population.  Or Jack making shows for and about the gay community.  Hitaji talking about women’s issues.  Michael speaking to artists.  Janice making shows about healthy food.  Amy breaking through the mainstream media to bring the real story.  All of my colleagues making their own unique contributions.  Or me just trying to whistle past my own father’s surprising warning at the seafood restaurant over five years ago.  And for the people who work here on a daily basis, just coming to work represents small acts of courage.  All represent in their own small ways what makes this radio station worth listening to, worth paying for, and worth telling your friends, family, and acquaintances about.
 
For as the commercials say, a KPFT basic membership…$35, a KPFT membership with a New Capital Show T shirt…$90, a little beacon of courage, peace, and authenticity in a sea of misinformation, violence, and artifice…priceless.  Support KPFT today.  Support KPFT tomorrow.  Support KPFT…always.
 
I’m Leo Gold.  This is The New Capital Show.