ACIP - Draft Narrative BVHP Radio
MISSION: “TO BROADCAST THE VOICES OF A UNIQUE COMMUNITY...””
-Put media production into the hands of the people, and empower them to tell their stories of identity, culture, and history, in their own true words, replacing misconceptions about this region perpetuated by mainstream media.
-Preserve the distinct language patterns of this community.
-Help local music and arts flourish.
-Facilitate community discussions about the future of these neighborhoods.
-Build community collaborations that overcome typical social boundaries.
“...IN AN ENVIRONMENT OF COURTESY AND RESPECT.”
VISION
The BVHP Radio Network is a network of radio studios in community centers, senior centers, youth centers, housing projects, churches, counseling centers, case-management organizations, schools, private homes, and street-corners throughout the 94124 zip code.
Community radio producers, trained in radio production by BVHP Radio, will create content: talk shows, DJ's spinning locally-produced music, news, live music performances, radio theater, poetry, on-location reporting, and more.
Listeners around the world will tune-in through their computers, on their internet-enabled devices, and, in a few spots in Bayview Hunters Point, on AM/FM radios.
PROJECT CONTEXT
The Bayview Hunters Point Community (BVHP) is a predominantly black neighborhood which, in many parts, is significantly disadvantaged, economically and environmentally. BVHP has an intense and fascinating socio-political history, including an armed uprising. Many of it’s impassioned local population can trace their families back 70 years in BVHP, and before that to places like Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. BVHP has a vibrant street life, where neighbors still say "hello" every morning. It is also one of the only places around to find authentic Soul Food family recipes, passed down for generations.
BVHP Radio exists to help preserve and protect this region’s unique history and cultural heritage.
Sadly, many families here have fallen on economic hard-times and ill-health, since the Navy Shipyard shut-down put thousands out of work, and left behind a toxic mess. BVHP hospitalization rates for asthma, congestive heart failure and emphysema are four times higher than the state average. There are many "street people"-- unemployed, homeless, drug-addicted, or drug-dealing. But these are not "transients"-- most of them are Bayview Hunters Point natives. Tragically, BVHP is plagued by gang violence.
BVHP Radio enables neighbors, NPO’s, and experts to share perspectives, and to collaborate on solutions.
Over the next 5 to 10 years, this region is expected to experience another significant social shift: an economic resurgence, including new businesses, and pricey real estate developments. Some are concerned about over-development: about the loss of the identity of this unique community.
BVHP Radio will facilitate and document this community’s response to change.
BVHP Radio is the voices of those who live, work, play, and suffer here: families, seniors, kids, teens, parents, shop-owners, athletes, rappers, artists and musicians, people on the street, gays, people in churches and temples, potentially even gang-bangers and drug dealers.
BVHP Radio is a radio family of folks unified to produce quality radio for the betterment of their neighborhoods.
ARTISTIC PHILOSOPHY & PRACTICE
In the 1920's and 30's, New York City’s Harlem experienced a flowering of Black American culture, music, literature, theater, and dance. Our goal is to plant seeds for a Bayview Cultural Renaissance. We believe that a thriving arts and culture scene gives several key benefits to the community:
-Priorities: There's a risk that civic priorities will be based purely upon economic interests of private entities. A strong cultural base can help ensure that humanitarian concerns will not be pushed aside by economic self-interests.
-Identity: If Bayview turns into a strip-mall, it will lose it’s flavor. A strong arts presence may encourage landlords and developers to invest in theaters, museums, art galleries, recording studios, artist residences, and music venues.
-Economy: A neighborhood where the arts contribute to economic growth is a more civilized place to live.
Great potential lay here: BVHP is an incubator for an unusually high density of small, independent recording studios, in dire need of new promotional opportunities to survive.
How will BVHP Radio cultivate a cultural renaissance?
-by broadcasting live performances of local musicians, poets, radio theater, and other arts.
-by broadcasting recorded, locally-produced audio arts.
-by creating competition among BVHP’S pool of talent, for access to our airwaves.
-by promoting local events, such as concerts, art shows, and performances.
-by successfully building a listening audience large-enough to make us culturally and socially relevant, using technology, incentives, and promotions.
EXAMPLE LISTENER EXPERIENCES
-A mother and her young child are shopping at Super Save grocery, which is playing our Radio stream on their PA. She hums along to a local vocalist. Her child says, "Mommy, I want candy!" Suddenly, Mom hears, "Moms, here's a tip on healthy snacks for your kids." As a result, the mother buys her child a piece of fruit instead.
-A middle-aged woman is having her hair done at Sonya's House of Styles. On BVHP Radio, a local female poet recites a piece about aging. As our customer goes under the hair dryer, she hears another female voice saying "Here’s some advice on coping with menopause."
-A teenage boy is having lunch in the cafeteria at Thurgood Marshall High School. The school is playing our live stream in their cafeteria. The student’s favorite local rap-artist is being interviewed by a 15-year-old host from Burton High School. The interview transitions to a group of teen boys talking about safe sex.
CONTENT
Ratio: Our programming will be about 50% music and arts, and 50% talk and news. Our "entertainment" programming will attract listeners, who will then be exposed to our talk programming.
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Like all radio stations, BVHP Radio will have a Program Director, who will evaluate, design, and choose radio programs. Shows will be selected based on whether they fulfill our project Mission.
SHOW DESIGN
Each radio show will be designed by either the Program Director or the Producer:
-Program Director-defined: The Program Director will pre-define about 50% of our shows. Informed by a spectrum of community-development organizations and experts, he will develop descriptions for numerous radio programs. Then, the Program Director will recruit people from the community to produce these shows. Producers will have a great deal of creative leeway. Examples:
--Alternative Transportation: This talk show will focus on bicycling, public transportation, walking, skateboards, snowboards, and electric vehicles.
--Multi-Faith Perspectives: This program will unite representatives from different faiths to compare perspectives.
--Uprising: A local theater group will produce an original radio reenactment of the 1966 “Bayview Uprising”. This traumatic historical event is burned into the minds of many older residents-- it's ripples are still felt in local consciousness. This theatrical piece will be part of a week of discussions, poetry, music, and telephone call-in reminiscences by local residents.
-Producer-defined: About 50% of our shows will be proposed by community members who want to produce them. Example:
--Healing Circle: A group of mothers who have each lost a child to gun violence gather for a monthly Healing Circle. Many moms are unable to attend. This group has expressed their desire to broadcast their sessions on BVHP Radio. The radio audience will be able to listen from home, and share their own personal experiences by phone.
PUBLIC ACTIVITIES
BVHP Radio will produce public events designed to increase awareness and listenership for the station:
-Annual Mobile Boombox Parade: The boombox is an icon of Black American culture. The boombox is also a device which can play BVHP Radio. The community will be invited to build and compete mobile music-amplification projects in our Annual Mobile Boombox Parade. Systems can be mounted on cars, pedestrians, bicycles, go-carts, and scooters. Inventors and engineers from the Bay Area high tech industries will be invited to assist BVHP residents in schools, community centers, and churches, to build original projects. Under our banner, contestants will form a parade which will wind it's way down the streets of Bayview Hunters Point, playing LOUD. See sample images in the appendix.
FEEDBACK
Ways listeners will communicate with BVHP Radio:
-Email communication with individual producers.
-Web-based Suggestion System.
-Web-based commenting system.
-Text-chat with on-air producer.
-Telephone call-in to the live show.
INNOVATION
This project is innovative in several ways:
-Politically: Most radio projects tend to represent a particular perspective (for example, "Anarchist Leftist"). We will strive to portray a cross-section of diverse, even contrary political viewpoints, religious perspectives, and social positions.
-Network: Other radio projects consist of a single studio in which all shows are produced. BVHP Radio will consist of a network of studios, scattered across the neighborhoods, connected electronically, enabling residents to produce shows from any location.
-Turn-key: The project itself will provide each studio location with a complete "turn-key" studio, including equipment, training, network distribution, incoming phone-number, web-pages, email addresses, and archiving. Organizations can join the network at the lowest-possible-cost, with no technical expertise.
-New Channel: The project will create a new channel of evangelism for many NPO’s. We will provide them with equipment and assistance producing short announcements, advice, and alerts.
-Community Conversation: While community meetings and gatherings provide access only for those who can attend in-person, we will bring a 2-way conversation about critical community issues, debates, and initiatives, directly into the homes of residents.
-Permanence: Other radio projects come and go, without a trace. This project will establish the infrastructure and institutional permanency to make it an integral part of the community.
-Civility: We believe that substantive, thoughtful discourse happens in the context of respect and civility, and that one way to reduce violence is to role-model this for our listeners. Where commercial media outlets encourage argumentativeness and even rudeness, we will disallow interrupting.
-In-stores: We will provide FREE music systems to retail stores and other public locations around BVHP, who agree to play our stream in their store. This innovative strategy will reach many listeners who would otherwise never hear us.
-Parade: The Boombox Parade is an original, fun way to raise awareness. It will also inspire residents to create their own innovations.
PROJECT FOUNDER/DIRECTOR
John Weiss, Founder, Program Director, and Technology Architect, has lived, worked, and volunteered in San Francisco's Bayview region since 2009. John builds his community relationships with these ACTIVITIES:
-Teaches Recording Studio to kids as Audio Arts Curriculum Coordinator for the Bayview Hunters Point YMCA
-Chief Technology Architect for Bayview Footprints, Quesada Gardens Initiative, and Seva Health Partnership
-Member of BMAGIC Bayview Mobilization for Adolescent Growth in our Communities
-Member of Bayview Third Street Stakeholders
-Volunteer video instructor with truant youths in the YMCA CARE program
-Volunteer with the San Francisco Housing Development Corporation, the Bayview Opera House, and The Community Leadership Academy & Emergency Response Project (CLAER)
John Weiss has completed the following TRAINING:
-Grantwriting - 2 day seminar, led by Karen Saylors, Ph. D
-Fundraising - class at The Foundation Center
-Working With Boards: class at The Foundation Center
-Festival Production: 2 day conference with the University of Massachusetts Arts Extension Service
-Non-Profit Organizational Planning: Semester course with the University of Massachusetts Arts Extension Service
John designed, produced, and MC'd an annual outdoor music festival, for 4 years, at Hampshire College. This festival presented over 80 diverse musical acts. John directed a staff of 30 people and raised thousands of dollars in donations.
See John’s resumes in appendix.
WORK PLAN
Within 3 months of Receipt of grant:
-List of predefined shows completed.
-Primary website pages completed.
-Date of Boombox Parade set.
-Develop MOU's for producers, studio hosts, guests, volunteers, and Board Members.
-Present and propose to potential hosts.
-Implement grant-application infrastructure.
Within 6 months of Receipt of grant:
-At least 1 radio studio implemented
-At least 3 radio programs on-the-air
-Primary global parts of website complete.
Within 10 months of Receipt of grant:
-At least 3 radio studios implemented
-At least 9 radio programs on-the-air
-Show webpages complete.
EVALUATION
We will tabulate improvements in the following:
# of producers
# of studios
# of live/archive listeners
# of website hits
# received emails/regular mails
# live on-air phone-ins
# show applications received
# producers in-training
# unique shows on-air per month
# of shows archived
# of rebroadcasts on 3rd-party outlets
# of public venues playing our stream
SHARING LESSONS
We will be delighted to share our experiences and lessons. We hope our project will become a benchmark for similar projects. We will consider it a sign of success if similar projects around San Francisco or around the world recruit our expertise.
