We Love you, Steve Harvey. We know God is not finished with you yet and that we should "Act Like a Lady, Think Like A Man, " but you may be receiving some unwelcome attention in the San Francisco Bay Area right about now.

           

Not if Entercom has its way. Community has mounted protest of replacement -Comedian Steve Harvey

 

It's May Day in San Francisco and the "Mayday" alarms have been sounded. Entercom thank you very much, but we want "Kevin Brown in the Morning" at KBLX, not "Steve Harvey" and Ray-Ray nem... rather to the point Nephew Tommy, Shirley Strawberry, Carla Ferrell, Sister O'Dell, Eugene, and the Pastors-nem. Most people in the Bay Area are too sophisticated to say "nem" as in "Momma-nem," but I am a transplant from Georgia and that colloquialism just flows like "Southern Comfort" especially in times of distress.

 

Come on now, Ya'll! "Steve Harvey Show" in the San Francisco Bay Area! Sacramento "maybe, baby!" Maybe, over the Internet or maybe, an mp3 of a gut-wrenching segment that makes you want to 'hollah' out loud with tears rolling down your cheeks hands beating the table can't catch your breath laughter when your son-in-law or daughter from Dallas sends you a "you're not going to believe what just went out over the airwaves" link. Yes, now that would be palatable for the San Francisco Bay Area. A little bit of Steve Harvey here and there! Mostly, over there!

 

We love you Steve Harvey...Yes! You gave our around the way girl, "Terri J. Vaughn" her big break on the "Steve Harvey TV Show." We love you Steve Harvey. But there's no love for anyone coming in and telling us what we should listen to. Did the executives at Entercom forget or ignore what happened when the beloved "Tom Joyner" was placed in the slot at 98.1 FM after Bay Area's own "girl next door" the voice of the Giant's Sweetheart Renel was kicked off the air. Sufficed to say you can tune in and hear Renel on this May Day.

 

"Entercom"...mmm for "intercom"? If so, communications should be both ways, not just from the top down. Or is it "Entercom" as in enter commerce and all they are thinking about are the bottom line decisions and not their public service mandate which unfortunately has been watered down. Thank you, FCC! There is a way to make money and serve the community, really there is.

 

With promises that the format would not change and that KBLX would continue it's great community service, the first action Entercom takes is to rip "Your Cousin Kevin Brown" off the airwaves as of May 7. "Him talk with forked tongue" comes to mind. This is the "Wild Wild West" isn't it? I am personally a little shocked. I thought they would give it some time before changing the lineup so drastically given what happen with KGO Radio in December. And as "we love Steve Harvey," I love Dwight Walker, one of the executives quoted in the initial releases reassuring KBLX continued community service.  

 

I like Dwight a lot. I served with him on San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Leadership San Francisco Board for about three years and when it came to the tough decisions I always saw him decide along the lines of people over property. He's a real standup guy from all that I have witnessed. I also saw from the sidelines, when Entercom bought out the station he was leading, Dwight handled the staff transitions in a very people-focused and sensitive way, according to the folks on staff that I knew.  So firing "Kevin Brown" is a hard one to follow. It must have come from detached heads from corporate. And that brings us to a chilling point: the lack of localism. Ok, you don't have to believe me. Maybe you'll get the point from Ted Turner 's warning in "My Beef With Big Media:"  

 

 http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0407.turner.html

 

 

"Loss of localism also undercuts the public-service mission of the media, and this can have dangerous consequences. In early 2002, when a freight train derailed near Minot, N.D., releasing a cloud of anhydrous ammonia over the town, police tried to call local radio stations, six of which are owned by radio mammoth Clear Channel Communications. According to news reports, it took them over an hour to reach anyone--no one was answering the Clear Channel phone. By the next day, 300 people had been hospitalized, many partially blinded by the ammonia. Pets and livestock died. And Clear Channel continued beaming its signal from headquarters in San Antonio, Texas--some 1,600 miles away."

 

"Public service mission"-major corporations make millions of dollars from public airwaves and yet they throw pennies back to the community in the form of public service announcements. Have you ever tried to get a media company to support a local nonprofit effort? There usually is no financial investment in the community and they throw back to the community what is already theirs: public service airtime. Have you noticed that the 60-second public service announcement (psa) went down to 30- seconds and now the standard is 15-seconds.

 

People please read the signposts. Media matters. The climate that created the Trayvon Martin situation and so many before and after is due in part to media programming. UCLA Law Professor Dr. Jerry Kang warned in "Trojan Horses of Race" that television news perpetuates and creates racism. (While we're looking at broadcasting, check your local newspapers. Unless the person was hired recently, the San Francisco Chronicle does not have one Black reporter. I believe Shelah Moody was the last fired.) So let's not give a pass to newspapers and the Internet that can have similar results as Dr. Kang describes in his work:

 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=627381

 

"Recent social cognition research - a mixture of social psychology, cognitive psychology, and cognitive neuroscience - has provided stunning results that measure our implicit bias against various social categories. In particular, they reveal that most of us have implicit biases in the form of negative beliefs (stereotypes) and attitudes (prejudice) against racial minorities. This is notwithstanding sincere self-reports to the contrary. These implicit biases have been demonstrated to have real-world consequence - in how we interpret actions, perform on exams, interact with others, and even shoot a gun...Troubling is what's on the local news. Sensationalistic crime stories are disproportionately shown: If it bleeds, it leads. Racial minorities are repeatedly featured as violent criminals. Consumption of these images, the social cognition research suggests, exacerbates our implicit biases against racial minorities."

 

Steve Harvey, We Love You, but can you come when the people invite you instead of this forced arrangement.

 

I'm just sayin'!

 

Here are some related links to the Bay Area's response:

 

What the Sale of KBLX Could Mean by Harrison Chastang:

http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=10112

 

Community Call for Return of KBLX Staff:

http://www.wrightnow.biz/articles_view.asp?columnid=2898&articleid=76754

 

There's a call to write federal legislators, but the most effective campaign will be the one that impacts the bottom line. Folks write the advertisers and just turn that dial to make your point to media. It's time to take back the microphone, the camera, the column inches and keep the Net free.

 

Will the Bay Area stand up for "Cousin Brown" and bring him back like folks did "Renel?

 

Stay Tuned!

Other Community News:

San Francisco - California Attorney General Kamala Harris will be guest speaker as The San Francisco Conservation Corps hosts its "Future Hard at Work Reception," Tuesday May 8, 6:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at the San Francisco War Memorial Green Room.  The San Francisco Department of Environment and the Fort Mason Center will be recognized for being environmentally conscientious partners of the organization that greens San Francisco's public spaces and helps young people facing life challenges.

"The San Francisco Conservation Corps was green from its inception, before it was popular, as U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, then Mayor of the City of San Francisco launched the program twenty-nine years ago with key community leaders such as Justice J. Anthony Kline," said Ann Cochrane, Executive Director.  "It's only natural that we acknowledge The Department of The Environment and the Fort Mason Center who are in the green trenches with us.  We are honored to have Attorney General Kamala Harris help us with that acknowledgement" added Cochrane.

Asian Heritage Street Fair--Be there! The largest gathering of Asian Pacific Americans in the nation is back and bigger than ever, this year showcasing the return of the Arts & Crafts World Market, an extravaganza of unique handmade products and artworks. The fair will also feature a scrumptious collection of pan-Asian delights and sweets, along with the Bay Area's favorite food trucks. For the first time ever, the fair will feature celebrity cooking demonstrations - including lessons from renowned chef Martin Yan and Slanted Door's Charles Phan!