PRINCEVILLE — Several residents have banded to tackle alleged racism at KKCR after Kaua‘i’s community radio station fired a Hawaiian programmer last month and canned two talk show hosts this week.
Protests late Thursday afternoon outside the Princeville station led to police arresting Anahola activist Hale Mawae, 24, for trespassing and resisting arrest.
Ka‘iulani Edens-Huff, who hosted the popular but controversial “The Song of Sovereignty” program Monday mornings on 90.9 FM, was suspended “due to multiple violations of station policies and FCC laws,” KKCR Program Director Donna Lewis said yesterday.
“It’s really unfortunate that some mad folks are trying to spin this into a racial issue — it’s not in any way,” Lewis said.
Huff, a former commercial radio DJ who has worked at KKCR since July 2006, said she was terminated for a tiff she had with another volunteer.
Noel Brooks hosts “Na Mele O Hawai‘i” program that immediately precedes Huff’s segment. She claims he consistently ends late, preventing her program from starting at 9 a.m.
This happened on Dec. 17, Huff said, and “I threw a hissy fit in the studio.
“I told him I was tired of him acting unprofessional,” she said. “I unplugged his head set, tossed it aside and threw mine on the counter.”
The next day, she said, she came home to messages from friends asking why she was fired. Unaware of being terminated, she opened up her e-mail and found a letter from the program director sent the previous evening.
“We recognize your contributions to KKCR and appreciate the value and passion of your program. However, we are fundamentally committed to providing a safe, supportive and healthy environment for every volunteer and visitor to KKCR,” Lewis states in the letter. “Due to your verbal abuse of a fellow DJ this morning (both off- and on-air), as well as your disregard for equipment (throwing headphones), your DJ privileges at KKCR have been terminated, effective immediately.
“It’s never OK to attack another DJ, volunteer or staff member, and it’s not OK to be careless with or damage station equipment,” the letter continues.
Huff called the charges over-exaggerated and unfounded.
“I acted like a naggy wife complaining about a dirty living room and I got fired,” she said. “I’m really ashamed I had a hissy fit … but expressing your anger is not violence.”
She responded to KKCR management in a Dec. 18 e-mail.
“You have been trying to get rid of me since I started my sovereignty show,” Huff states. “Do you really want to take me on? … I’ve been waiting for you racists.”
Huff, 45, of Kapa‘a, said she plans to finalize details to retain an attorney in Honolulu next week. She claims the station violated its policies, her rights and FCC rules.
KKCR failed to contact Mawae, who witnessed the incident, or ask Huff for her side of the story before deciding to end her DJ privileges, she said.
But an e-mail from Lewis posted on Joan Conrow’s kauaieclectic.blogspot.com says there were multiple eye witnesses whose names were withheld for fear of retaliation.
“Every Monday I ask myself, ‘Is this my last show?’” Huff said. “I’ve had death threats, been bullied, intimidated, made to feel uncomfortable. It’s like picking open a deep wound every Monday.”
Huff had received “multiple warnings” from Larry LaSota, station manager at the time, and Ken Jannelli, program director at the time, Lewis said yesterday.
KKCR volunteer Katy Rose said Huff had a few “run-ins” with station managers who were concerned about the commentary she interspersed in the program.
Huff started working in radio in 1999. She said she was furloughed from KONG FM and left H. Hawaii Media after a dispute with management over her use of Hawaiian words and speaking pidgin on air.
Rose and Jimmy Trujillo host a community call-in program called “Out of the Box” on alternating Thursdays.
On their Dec. 20 show, they announced Huff’s termination and opened up the lines “for people who found value in her programming,” Rose said.
The hosts abbreviated calls supporting KKCR and fished for listeners eager to spread untrue racism claims about the station, Lewis says in a police report submitted yesterday.
KKCR sent the duo an e-mail Tuesday, saying their program scheduled for Thursday had been pre-empted.
“There are several issues regarding your 12-20 broadcast we’d like to discuss with you upon return of the general manager,” Lewis states in the letter. “We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and look forward to clarifying some critical issues with you. I’m attaching an e-copy of the Volunteer Handbook for your files … It’s an important reference.”
In her police report, Lewis says the show violated KKCR’s “dirty laundry” policy and “perpetuated misinformation.”
“We felt listeners needed to have the benefit of knowing what is going on and participate in the conversation,” Rose said.
KKCR Station Manager Gwen Palagi will return next week, Lewis said.
Rose, Trujillo, Mawae and several concerned residents decided to protest the terminations Thursday at the station.
The plan, Rose said, was to ask to host their regularly scheduled show, be denied, set a time to discuss the matter with management and leave.
But when they arrived, Lewis contacted police and asked for assistance.
Officers responded and explained to the group that while they had a right to express their opinion, they could do so only in a public right of way. The officers pointed out exactly where KKCR/Princeville’s property ends and where the right of way begins, a county news release issued yesterday says.
Following the explanation, the group complied and moved over to the right of way.
Shortly afterward, Mawae returned to the entrance of KKCR/Princeville. Police repeatedly told Mawae that he had to leave or he would be arrested.
Mawae refused and was arrested for trespassing and resisting arrest, the release states. He was taken to police cellblock and booked.
He later posted $170 bail and was released.
Mawae, Huff, Trujillo and Rose said they remain concerned about the bigger picture — the station’s overall structure and lack of ethnic diversity.
KKCR’s nine volunteer board members and five paid staff members are white.
“No kanaka has ever applied for a staff position,” Lewis said. “Every Hawaiian who has ever applied to serve on the board has been unanimously approved. The station and board strongly encourage members of the Hawaiian community to get involved in the station on all levels — staff, volunteer, board member.”
Rose said she and others who are increasingly concerned about the lack of community control over KKCR have met to discuss changes.
“Individual incidents like these are indicative of deeper problems that can be fixed structurally so we don’t run into them again,” she said.
Every volunteer at KKCR is required to comply with the same set of rules — regardless of race, wealth, political position or popularity, Lewis said.
“As with other DJs who have had their DJ privileges suspended in the past for similar violations, (Huff) may reapply to the volunteer program after a waiting period (of 90 days),” she added.
KKCR is searching for a responsible Hawaiian DJ to host the ‘The Song of Sovereignty’ program, Lewis said.
On the station’s Web site, kkcr.org, the staff posted a message about their mission.
“KKCR supports the preservation, perpetuation and celebration of the Hawaiian culture and encourages members of the Hawaiian community to get involved by becoming part of the KKCR ‘ohana,” it states. “The station actively seeks volunteers to enhance and diversify its Hawaiian programming, including social, political, musical and cultural affairs.”
The protests over the past few weeks resulted in the first time in the station’s history that it has locked its gates, which Princeville Police advised, Lewis said. KKCR launched in the mid-1990s.
“As I unlocked the gate to let DJs through, I mentioned how strange it felt to close the gate,” she said. “It was so rusty from disuse that I could hardly get it closed — I had to ask the security guard if I could borrow some WD-40. We prefer the open-door policy and look forward to resolving the security issues so we can return to our normal routine of serving our amazing community.”
To see a video of the protest, visit Mawae’s Web site at bebo.com/hmawae2004.
