Yesterday evening, I and several other volunteers from Democracy for Colorado staffed the pledge drive at Free Speech TV here in Boulder. Two weeks before, we helped with KGNU Community Radio‘s pledge drive. These are two of several activities we regularly do in order to keep local alternative media healthy.
Free Speech TV produces lots of quality programming that is then syndicated to cable providers and the Dish Network, including Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! and SourceCode. I encourage you to send them a donation online if you benefit from their programming.
I’ve done quite a few of these drives, and frankly the donations were only trickling in. But two calls in particular really woke me up.
First was a young woman who didn’t have an address to give. We need this information for reporting and credit card processing, so I asked her why not? She replied that she was staying at her aunt’s house right now, since her apartment in New Orleans was literally gone. She had no help or relatives other than her aunt, and didn’t know how long she’d be there or “how I can ever get back on my feet.”
I didn’t press her on the details. But she told me that alternative news programming like Democracy Now! was a lifeline to her. She turned on CNN and MSNBC and couldn’t take what she saw as a stream of lies. She was obviously in dire straits, but was determined to send $25 to the volunteers who made Free Speech TV possible. I told her I would donate $25 in her name, and she should keep it to help with her pressing needs. But she would not relent, so we both gave $25, and she hung up happy that she’d helped something that helped her keep sane.
Near the end of my four hours, I got another memorable call. This was from an elderly Hispanic woman in Tuscon. She gave me all her information but declined to say how much she’d donate by check. She repeated what everyone said: without shows that tell the truth about the world, like those on Free Speech TV, she would not know what to do.
Leaving the donation form without a pledge amount usually means a lost pledge, so I pressed her again for how much she’d be able to donate. She said “I wish I could say, but it depends on how much I’ll have left after I spend most of my Social Security check next week.”
I trust she will send her check when she can, for as much as she can. It’s much too important to people like her. It’s a lifeline.
Please support independent, alternative, and community-based media in your area. It’s too important to ignore.
Reminds me of the Biblical story of the Widow’s Mite — the woman who only gave two small coins to the temple charity box because that’s all she had.
I read somewhere — unfortunately now can’t recall where — that the lion’s share of charitable donations in this country come from the working folks, middle class and below. Those of us who can imagine what it’s like to have your apartment washed away, or to live on a small limited amount each month, or to try to make ends meet on two or three low-paying jobs…
Not to ignore the fact that there are philanthropists among those better off, and their contributions are greatly appreciated, wherever they’re given. But there are a lot of people out there who are giving money when their own budgets are tight, and who will notice the difference of that $25 here or $10 there. And yet they give anyway.
They’re the ones who give me hope for the soul of this country.
I think being needy yourself gives one an appreciation for others’ need, which carries over into other charity.
A couple of callers ended their calls with something like “Do you have any idea how the hell we’re going to get Bush out of there?” No one can wait until the next election, judging by the desperation in their voices.
I love FTSV and LINK.
and I love this diary – thank “U”
FSTV is a treasure. I admit I don’t watch it much, but that’s because I don’t watch much TV in general, and when I do, I’m usually burnt by the end of the Colbert Report.
But I listen to Democracy Now! on the radio every day, and I added SourceCode to the TiVo list yesterday. I’m proud to have these great media resources locally, but I know there’s nothing similar in far too much of the country. And our soldiers can only hear Rush.