Mary Frances Berry (born February 17, 1938) is an American historian, writer, lawyer, activist and professor who focuses on U.S. constitutional and legal, African-American history. Berry is the Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought where she teaches American legal history at the Department of History, School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania . She is the former chairwoman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights . Previously, Berry was provost of the College of Behavioral and Social Science at University of Maryland, College Park , and was the first African American chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder .
41-547: This article provides a list of Pacifica Radio owned-and-operated stations, associated stations and affiliate stations. Pacifica Radio Pacifica Foundation is an American nonprofit organization that owns five independently operated, non-commercial , listener-supported radio stations known for their progressive /liberal political orientation. Its national headquarters adjoins station KPFK in North Hollywood , California. Pacifica Foundation also operates
82-623: A Ph.D. in American constitutional history from the University of Michigan . In 1970, she earned a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School . Berry spent seven years working at the University of Maryland , eventually becoming interim provost of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences. In 1976, she became chancellor of the University of Colorado in Boulder , Colorado ,
123-550: A daily Spanish Language newscast, and From the Vault , a weekly program drawn from Pacifica's extensive audio archives. Pacifica also produced Informed Dissent , a ten-week series for the 2006 mid-term elections that drew from talent across the network. Guma left his post in September 2007 . Pacifica's National Board unanimously chose former KPFA general manager Nicole Sawaya as the next executive director. Sawaya had been among
164-458: A listener complaint, Pacifica received a letter of reprimand from the FCC , censuring them for allegedly violating broadcast regulations which prohibited airing indecent material. The foundation took the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court in FCC v. Pacifica Foundation and lost in a 5–4 decision. This became a landmark moment in the history of free speech , and the case continues to define the power of
205-743: A tenured chair at the University of Pennsylvania, while continuing to serve on the Civil Rights Commission. In 1993, Berry's book The Politics of Parenthood: Child Care, Women's Rights, and the Myth of the Good Mother was published. Reviewing the book in The Christian Science Monitor , Laura Van Tuyl stated, "Berry presents a dispassionate history of the women's movement, day care, and home life, showing
246-558: A toll. In 2005, Coughlin resigned , the network was still largely disorganized , and Pacifica reverted to operating with an interim executive director for most of the year. In January 2006, Pacifica hired Greg Guma as the next executive director of the Pacifica Foundation. By the end of the year, the Foundation had fully recovered its financial health and had launched two new national programs: Informativo Pacifica ,
287-473: A weekly program that thematically repackages archival material, making it relevant to contemporary listeners; and Informativo Pacifica , based at KPFK in Los Angeles, a daily Spanish-language newscast that includes reporters from the U.S. and many Latin American countries. Local Pacifica stations produce many programs that are available to network stations and affiliates. These include: Sprouts ,
328-468: A weekly showcase of producers and stations around the network, often in documentary format; Explorations in Science with Dr. Michio Kaku , a weekly radio program on science, politics, and the environment; Dennis Bernstein's Flashpoints , a daily drive-time public affairs program; Against The Grain a progressive and radical commentary program; and many other regular programs. Pacifica also produces
369-687: A wide variety of special broadcasts, including live coverage of major U.S. Congressional hearings, national mobilizations against war, and other important events, such as the United States Social Forum . Special programs also include news documentaries, holidays and commemorations, and archival audio from the Pacifica Radio Archives. Pacifica distributes program content via the Audioport system. The Pacifica Radio Archives, housed at station KPFK in Los Angeles,
410-1072: Is a compilation of news, interviews, and documentaries. Democracy Now! is heard and seen on more than 700 radio and TV stations across the U.S. including public-access television stations and satellite television channels Free Speech TV and Link TV . WDEV , based in Waterbury, Vermont , is the only commercial radio station in the U.S. that carries the program —even though it is also heard in north-central Vermont over Pacifica affiliate WGDR in Plainfield and its sister station, WGDH in Hardwick. In 2002, as Pacifica implemented its new listener-sponsor-accountability structure and as Pacifica and Democracy Now! settled outstanding disputes from previous years, Democracy Now! spun off with substantial funding from Pacifica to become an independent production. The Pacifica network, in addition to extensive community-based productions at its various stations around
451-677: Is the oldest public radio archive in the United States documenting more than five decades of grassroots political, cultural, and performing arts history. The archive includes recordings of interviews with John Coltrane , James Baldwin , Lorraine Hansberry , and Langston Hughes , among many others. The Pacifica Radio Archives were featured in their own 30-minute slot on BBC Radio 5 Live 's (now defunct) Up All Night program. The Pacifica-owned stations are listed below in alphabetical order by state and community of license . Note: All stations except for WBAI were built and signed-on by
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#1732782396768492-663: The ACLU . She subsequently resigned from the Pacifica board. She continued to serve as chair of the Civil Rights Commission. In 1999, Berry persuaded the Clinton administration to appoint Victoria Wilson , her editor at Alfred A. Knopf , to the commission. In 2001, she and the Democratic board members of the commission barred the seating of Peter Kirsanow , who had been appointed by President George W. Bush to replace Wilson on
533-729: The Empire State Building since 1966. The 9% annual rental increases were facilitated by the destruction of the twin towers on September 11, 2001, which dramatically reduced space available for comparable antennas. The ruling encumbered all of Pacifica's assets including KPFA and KPFB in Berkeley, KPFK in Los Angeles, WPFW in Washington, DC, and KPFT in Houston in addition to WBAI in New York City but does not affect
574-612: The Pacifica Network , a program service supplying over 200 affiliated stations with various programs, primarily news and public affairs. It was the first public radio network in the United States and it is the world's oldest listener-funded radio network. Programs such as Democracy Now! and Free Speech Radio News have been some of its most popular productions. Pacifica was founded in 1946 by pacifists E. John Lewis and Lewis Hill . During World War II , both of them had filed for conscientious objector status. After
615-516: The U.S. Civil Rights Commission , where during her tenure she became involved in legal battles with Carter's successor, Ronald Reagan . When Reagan attempted to remove her from the board, she successfully went to court to keep her seat. She clashed frequently on the commission with the Reagan-appointed chairman, Clarence M. Pendleton Jr. Pendleton tried to move the commission in line with Reagan's social and civil rights views and aroused
656-451: The 2016 board year with the exclusion of 75% of WBAI's board representation, it then moved to decertify Pacifica's 2016 board elections, which had been won handily by the independent faction not in power. The new 2017 board of directors replaced interim executive director Lydia Brazon with KPFT director Bill Crosier and reinstated WBAI's delegation. On Friday, October 6, 2017, Pacifica lost a $ 1.8 million settlement over what they claimed
697-790: The Pacifica Foundation. Mary Frances Berry Berry was born in Nashville, Tennessee , the second of the three children of George Ford and Frances Berry (née Southall). Because of economic hardship and family circumstances, she and her older brother were placed in an orphanage for a time. Berry attended Nashville's segregated schools . In 1956, she graduated with honors from Pearl High School. She attended Fisk University in Nashville, where her primary interests were philosophy, history, and chemistry. Berry transferred to Howard University , where in 1961 she received her B.A. In 1962, she received her M.A. from Howard. In 1966, Berry received
738-399: The U.S. and in scores of countries around the world. In September 2013, the board of directors of FSRN issued a lay-off notice to all staff, and confirmed that their last broadcast would take place on September 27, 2013. The board cited financial difficulties as the reason for the decision. In 2006, Pacifica added two new national programs: From the Vault from the Pacifica Radio Archives,
779-411: The United States, also featured a daily newscast Free Speech Radio News from 2003-2013. FSRN was a radio program founded by Pacifica Reporters Against Censorship, a group of mostly Pacifica Network News reporters who went on strike against the Pacifica board policies of the late 1990s. FSRN was primarily funded by Pacifica, and includes headlines and news features produced by reporters based around
820-511: The assets of any of its affiliates. On April 6, 2018, The Pacifica Foundation announced the settlement on a series of agreements that release WBAI, the organization's New York radio station, from a court judgment as well as the last two years of its lease at the Empire State Building as of May 31, 2018. The Foundation later completed an agreement to relocate its transmission facility to a new site nearby. On October 8, 2019, it
861-473: The commission. Berry and the Democratic bloc argued that Wilson was entitled to serve a full six-year term, but the Bush Administration contended that she had only been appointed to serve out the remainder of a previous member's term. Kirsanow sued, claiming Wilson's tenure had expired and he had been validly appointed. Wilson won in federal district court but ultimately lost on appeal in 2002, and
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#1732782396768902-470: The court ordered the seating of Kirsanow. The dispute determined which political party would have a majority of the board's members. Berry left office expiration of her term in late 2004 and was succeeded by Gerald A. Reynolds . In 2009, Berry's ninth book was published, a history of the Civil Rights Commission. Reviewing it in The New York Times , Samuel G. Freedman wrote, "Reviewing a book
943-522: The first black woman to head a major research university. In 1977, Berry took a leave of absence from the University of Colorado when President Jimmy Carter named her assistant secretary for education in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare . In 1980, Berry left the Department of Education to return to Howard University as a professor of history and law. Carter appointed her to
984-400: The five Pacifica stations. These local boards in turn elect the national board of directors. Aside from some minor changes, the same 2003 bylaws remain in effect today. Pacifica National News director Dan Coughlin (director) was voted Interim Executive Director of the network in 2002 (the "Interim" was later dropped). The years of internal legal battles and financial mismanagement had taken
1025-505: The foundation alleging that he was dismissed because he is African American and a whistleblower . On August 9, 2013, Pacifica interim executive director Summer Reese announced that due to financial problems, Pacifica-owned radio station WBAI-FM in New York was laying off about two-thirds of its staff, effective August 12, 2013. The entire news department was reportedly included in the layoff. After Pacifica's board of directors completed
1066-551: The government over broadcast material it calls indecent. In two years during a three-year cycle, subscribers and station staff at each station vote to elect the Local Station Board, as required by the Pacifica Foundation bylaws. The local station boards have support and advisory duties for their station. They also elect members from their body to serve on the Pacifica Foundation's national board of directors. The full local station board meets monthly, and committees of
1107-626: The ire of liberals and feminists. He served from 1981 until his sudden death in 1988. In 1984, Berry co-founded the Free South Africa Movement , dedicated to the abolition of apartheid in South Africa. She was one of three prominent Americans arrested at the South African Embassy in Washington the day before Thanksgiving; the timing was deliberate to ensure maximum news exposure. In 1987, Berry took
1148-528: The listeners of the stations and to attract a more diverse audience. "White male hippies over 50," is how Berry described the programmers and audience of KPFA in Berkeley. Rumors of board actions involving the sale of flagship stations such as KPFA were widely circulated by the programmers. (Unlike most public service stations, Pacifica stations hold valuable high wattage licenses at commercial frequencies in major urban markets including New York City .) In 1999 she and Pacifica's Executive Director Lynn Chadwick fired
1189-481: The local station board meet on both regular and ad hoc bases. For most of its history, Pacifica gave each of its stations independent control of programming. During the 1990s, a major controversy arose over rumors that the Pacifica National Board and national staff were attempting to centralize control of content, to increase audience. The rumors included accusations that the board proposed changing
1230-657: The network's funding model away from a reliance exclusively on listener donations and toward a mix of listener donations and corporate foundation funding similar to that of NPR . There were also accusations that the Board was considering selling both KPFA and WBAI in New York City, which operate on commercial-band FM frequencies (94.1 and 99.5, respectively) worth hundreds of millions of dollars. This led to years of conflict, including court cases, public demonstrations, firings and strikes of station staff, whose common plight inspired creation of Radio4all.net to preserve what they saw as
1271-458: The organization into a financial crisis. Sawaya's departure was followed by major staff layoffs. In 2009, Pacifica Board chair Grace Aaron became interim executive director, former board member LaVarn Williams replaced Lonnie Hicks as chief financial officer, and the national office took control of WBAI in New York. Aaron appointed Williams acting GM of WBAI in May, and Hicks filed a lawsuit against
List of Pacifica Radio stations and affiliates - Misplaced Pages Continue
1312-465: The original spirit of Pacifica. Many listeners of the individual stations, especially KPFA and WBAI, objected to what they saw as an attempt to tone down the overtly left-leaning political content on Pacifica stations. The controversy included highly publicized ideologically-charged disputes between grassroots listener organizations and Mary Frances Berry , a former chairperson of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights , who chaired Pacifica's national board at
1353-490: The persistent obstacles to economic and political power that have confronted women as a result of society's definition of them as 'mothers.' Her heavily footnoted chronology attributes the failure of the Equal Rights Amendment, the languishing of the women's movement in the '80s, and years of bickering over federal parental-leave and child care bills to an unwillingness to rethink gender roles." In 1993, Berry
1394-591: The staff members fired by the national board in 1999 amidst Pacifica's internal crisis. Sawaya began her tenure as executive director in mid-November 2007, but abruptly changed her mind two weeks later. Pacifica historian Matthew Lasar said she "found the level of internecine dysfunction at Pacifica overwhelming, and fled her job." The Pacifica National Board spent the next several months negotiating with her, and Sawaya resumed her job on March 5, 2008. She resigned effective September 30, citing "dysfunctional" governance and "shoddy and opaque" business practices that had plunged
1435-532: The station's manager and issued a gag order, threatening to fire anyone else who worked at the station who spoke of their actions. Berry thereafter ordered a lockout of all KPFA personnel, in violation of station union agreements. She then proceeded to demand the imposition of racial preferences across the board at KPFA, though she refused to meet with minority staff people at the station, who mostly disagreed with her actions. Berry's actions in connection with Pacifica Radio brought protest from free speech groups such as
1476-493: The time. The board eventually was embroiled in counter-lawsuits by board members and listener-sponsors and, after global settlement of the lawsuits in November 2001, an interim board was formed to craft new bylaws, which it did in two tumultuous years of national debates among thousands of listener-sponsors and activists, finally giving listener-sponsors the right and responsibility to elect new Local Station Boards at each of
1517-581: The war, Lewis, Hill and a small group of former conscientious objectors created the Pacifica Foundation in the town of Pacifica, California , in the San Francisco Bay Area . Their first station, KPFA in Berkeley, commenced broadcasting in 1949. By 1977, the network had added WBAI in New York City, KPFK in Los Angeles, WPFW in Washington, DC, and KPFT in Houston. In 1973, one of Pacifica's stations, WBAI, broadcast comedian George Carlin 's Filthy Words routine uncensored. Following
1558-550: Was also appointed chair of the Civil Rights Commission by President Bill Clinton , who reappointed her for another term in 1999. Separately from her work on the Civil Rights Commission, Berry was named chair of the Pacifica Radio Foundation 's National Board in June 1997. She drew controversy from listeners, programmers, and station staff, after she and the board attempted to modify programming in order to expand
1599-469: Was announced that WBAI's local operations were abruptly shut down. Their programming was superseded by Pacifica Across America: a compilation of work from sister stations and other sources; Democracy Now! continued to be broadcast. The 2019 WBAI shutdown was litigated in the fall of 2019. The New York State Supreme Court ruled in November 2019 that the WBAI shutdown by then-executive director John Vernile
1640-427: Was executed "ultra vires" (without the proper authority) and ordered the station re-opened. A show that for years has been considered the flagship of Pacifica Radio's national programming is Democracy Now! , an independent news organization that covers democracy, human rights and justice issues, and questions the motives of U.S. foreign and domestic policy. Hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan González , this program
1681-449: Was price gouging by Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT), which had been raising antenna rental charges for WBAI at 9% per year for the last 12 years under a 15-year lease WBAI signed in 2005 that did not expire until 2020. The rent was set at more than half a million dollars annually, which Pacifica claimed was approximately 4 times the current market rent for Midtown Manhattan antenna rentals. Pacifica Radio's WBAI has housed its transmitter on