[KFCF Friends] Reactions to Amy Goodman in Fresno...

[subs at mail.kfcf.org]

A big thanks to everyone who showed up to see Amy Goodman and her brother David
Goodman last Wednesday here in Fresno.  We were blown away by the size of the
crowd. Comcast Cable 14 and Jim Grant of KNXT-TV 49 videotaped her appearance
for future broadcast, and KFCF recorded it too for broadcast.

We understand there will be an article in Tuesday's (4/20/04) LA Times.   We've
heard that some of the students at CSUF had an eye-opening experience hearing
and seeing Amy and David. 

The Fresno Bee says "Maybe these people were just curious what the other side
was saying. Or maybe Goodman was tapping into a nervous undercurrent that some
political pundits say is permeating the nation -- without regard to ideology."
http://www.fresnobee.com/columnists/ellis/story/8450210p-9284554c.html

There's an article at Indymedia: http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/04/1677545.php
too.

And finally from David Goodman's web-log....

DAY 2: 4/14, FRESNO, CALIFORNIA The event - a showing of the film "Independent
Media in a Time of War" (available on the Democracy Now! web site. The DVD is
produced by the Hudson Mohawk Indymedia Center), and talks by Amy and me-was
held at the student center at California State University. It was a fundraiser
for community radio station and Pacifica affiliate KFCF. We were told by some
folks in LA that Fresno was a small city off the beaten track, so not to expect
much. Were they ever wrong.

 When we arrived at the 700-seat student center, every seat was filled and the
place overflowed with people standing-about 1000 people had showed up. The next
challenge: keeping the cops from shutting down the event. As I started to speak
on stage, Amy went outside to hold off the cops, who showed up because of the
crowds and the fire code violations. Then an entire class of students arrived
but couldn't get in. So Amy held court outside as the students stood around in a
circle asking questions and listening. There was an air of comic tension as the
police milled about, and the crowds inside and outside the hall cheered the
presentation.

 The next morning, we read in the Fresno Bee that the EPA had just declared
Fresno as home to the dirtiest air in the country, taking top honors from LA. We
met a local Latino leader who explained that the problem of dirty air was
especially acute for his community. With many Latinos working in jobs that did
not provide health care benefits, asthma rates among Hispanic children has shot
sky high. We brought him in to speak on Democracy Now! the next day.

 As Vic Bedoian of KFCF drove us to the airport, he warned us about the Pelco
surveillance cameras. Fresno airport is one of the testing sites of Pelco's face
recognition technology -you walk in and a picture of your face is sent to a
central computer. Amy found out the hard way about this hyper-security, as she
was subjected to a full search when she was found to be carrying a button that
said, "Free Faroukh and all Political Prisoners!" The full teardown ended when a
Transportation Security Administration official noticed that she was carrying a
book by Mumia Abu-Jamal. "Hey, how's he doing - is he ever gonna get out of
jail?" asked the guard, pointing to Mumia's book. Then he whispered to Amy that
he listened to Democracy Now! every day!

-----------------
Wow! And we've got a number of great events coming up, a sitar music concert,
the Central California premiere of "Thirst", a documentary about water
corporatization by Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman
(http://www.thirstthemovie.org/ ) and the KFCF Intermountain Music Festival.
Details coming soon...
--Rych