Comradery for the Cause of Community Radio
Douglas Holbrook was a passionate advocate for our new community radio, KNSJ 89.1 fm and KNSJ.org. He served in 2013 and the first half of 2014 as the President of Activist San Diego, which launched and operates KNSJ since July 4th of last year.
Douglas was multi-talented and multi-faceted; a loving father, an inspiring SDSU Political Science professor, a talented Attorney, a comedian, and an on-air radio personality with a warm voice and a command of historical perspectives. This tribute will not deal with those noble attributes, but rather with his collaborative role with us in the leadership body of both KNSJ and ASD.
The sudden and unexpected passing of Douglas Holbrook has caused many of us to think about his qualities and the qualities of our friendships and comradery.
We already feel Douglas’ impending absence at future gatherings as we circle the table to strategize on how to keep the station flourishing, while we earnestly struggle to keep it afloat financially. His guidance and perspectives will be missed.
We will miss him as part of our special team caring for the seemingly mundane organizational matters that provide the solid foundations, that sustains every enduring cause.
We will miss Douglas’ hospitality; opening up his home for meetings and retreats and parties and radio production. He loved the historic he rescued and loved to share it with others.
As we do our morning chores, we will miss his warm voice, his on-air philosophizing with Mike Aguirre on how to make a better world. “Talk of the Town” will continue to resonate with his spirit.
Most of all we will miss the comradery we carried as we shared a common cause. Comradery is that spirit of friendship and the sense of community it engenders. There is a special comradery, when we share a vision with someone who is seeking progress toward a society of increasing equity and justice. Comradery becomes a special relationship devoid of self-aggrandizement, hedonism or or idle entertainment. It is rich in the sentiments of fellowship, fraternity and human kindness.
When we set out to transform the society around us, rather than just complaining about what’s wrong, we affix our aspirations on a brighter future. We link arms in common cause: determined to change the fundamental dynamic of a dysfunctional social order. We are no longer satisfied to have a few more crumbs for those on the bottom of society, while the 1% builds temples of monetary grandeur and social control. We want social justice. Activist San Diego aspires to be that Network for Social Justice giving life the NSJ of KNSJ.
Comradery comes when we decide collectively to seek a greater good; it is a special relationship. We have to care about each other, think about way we are using the precious time we have on this glorious planet. Like most relationships, we have times when we get frustrated, we have personal failings and resort to squabbling. It is at times like Douglas’ loss that we refocus on the fundamentals of our cause and contemplate our collective and individual legacy.
Douglas’ passing causes us to think about our own mortality. We doubt that Douglas would be content with empty phrases “He lived life to the fullest”. Let them say, we were crusaders; we saw evil and we wanted to imagine a new social order. Let them say we challenged the existing social order and that we were crusaders for a new world. Let them say that we took on the evil doers; let them say that we were undaunted by what seemed to be impossible – building a community radio station with no funding in the expectation, that if we build it, the community will participate and support it.
Douglas joined ASD and KNSJ to bring progressive information to San Diego, to reveal “what’s behind the curtain”, as he was fond of saying. As members and as a Board we were comrades and companions in that noble cause. We live in a country where where corporate giants like Clear Channel owns 850 radio stations! They smother us in mindless entertainment, deceptive news and corporate manipulation. We wanted something different for the people of San Diego, new information for a new future . We knew we needed to liberate a piece of the public airwaves.
Community radio has spread across the country, but SD was devoid of this enlightening perspective. Douglas was enraged by the forced closing of KLSD by Clear Channel. An FCC license seemed impossible, but after 6 years of effort, San Diego has for the last 15 months heard these epic voices on radio once again. Douglas was central to this effort. Our programming is a clarion, developing new conversations that are deeper and more humanistic. Together we see a common dream about a democratic future, engaging citizens to reinvent their destiny. The corporate Cleons should know that they have a nemesis; truth-tellers engaging citizens. Community radio will play a role in that transformation.
Douglas’ final rallying call was “Let’s take back America”. Every morning M-F Douglas Holbrook and Mike Aguirre had a public conversation with a growing radio constituency. They encouraged critical thinking about our fundamental principles and about re-creating a democracy. Comradery like this plants seeds and fertilizes the public discourse . Comradery is fundamentally soulful sharing of our aspirations for a sustainable planet with liberty and justice for all. The memory we retain of Douglas, bolsters our commitment to move forward as a community. Douglas left some large shoes to fill — we invite YOU to step forward to seemlessly fill that vacuum and bring your vision into our shared space, on the dial and in the streets.
Those of us in Activist San Diego and KNSJ are proud to have been in the circle with Douglas. May his example and his passing embolden us and fuel our passions for justice. As others before us have said, “Don’t Mourn, Organize!”
Douglas Holbrook, ¡Presente!
The ASD Board and KNSJ leadership