For Immediate Release

December 15, 2011

Contact: Maria de Jesus Gomez

559-455-5782, chuyag@radiobilingue.org

Línea Abierta Special Focuses on Humanitarian Crisis and Widespread Civil Rights Issues Among Immigrants in Alabama

As leaders from the nation’s top civil rights organizations convene in Alabama to advocate a repeal of the state’s immigration law, Radio Biling üe will air another in its series of specials on the controversy with a coast-to-coast live Línea Abierta simulcast connecting Montgomery, Alabama to audiences nationwide on Saturday Dec. 17, 2-4 pm PST.  Featured guest will be Martín Castro, Chair of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, whose agency is now examining whether state immigration enforcement laws, whose epicenter has shifted to Alabama, contribute to more acts of discrimination, hate crimes, or racial profiling. Through this open radio forum, the Commission will have an opportunity to hear direct testimony from listeners who live in the shadows, fearful of public places. Toll-free lines will be open for callers from the U.S. at 800-345-4632.

Saturday’s two-hour special also marks the next opportunity for Spanish-speaking audiences in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Sacramento to join in the national on-air dialogues that are a trademark of Radio Bilingüe’s public radio journalism, thanks to a new partnership with KIQI 1010 AM San Francisco-KATD 990 AM Sacramento.  Listeners in these locales who are receiving Línea Abierta programs each Saturday for a pilot period have responded enthusiastically to Radio Biling ü e’s unique brand of community service. The program also will simulcast in Alabama through an ongoing collaboration with the three-station network of La Jefa Radio in Birmingham. 

Available to all interested affiliate stations nationally via Satélite Radio Bilingüe , Saturday’s special will air on stations including Radio Bilingüe’s KSJV 91.5 FM Fresno, KMPO 88.7 FM Modesto-Stockton, KTQX 90.1 FM Bakersfield, KHDC 90.9 FM Salinas, KUBO 88.7 FM El Centro, KVUH 88.5 FM Mendocino, and Radio Biling üe 94.5 FM Paso Robles; on KIQI 1010 AM reaching San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Santa Rosa and Vallejo, KADT 990 AM reaching Sacramento, Yuba City, and Chico, on the Radio La Jefa network in Alabama, and streamed live at radiobilingue.org.

Radio Bilingüe is a national Latino-controlled non-commercial radio network and the prominent producer of Latino-oriented programming in public broadcasting.   Línea Abierta  has been produced by Radio Biling üe since 1995 and is the first and only national Latino-oriented talk show in the U.S. public broadcasting system, airing each weekday at noon PST on more than 100 stations throughout the country.  The partnership with KIQI is being facilitated by the station’s Hecho en California, a group of independent radio producers.  Funds for Radio Biling üe and Línea Abierta are provided in part by The Ford Foundation, The Open Society Foundations, The James Irvine Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, The California Endowment, the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, The California Wellness Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the U.S. Department of Commerce/California Emerging Technology Fund.

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