Welcome to KFOG’s “Protest Song” weekend.

I’m Mat Bates; I’m the new program director at KFOG, and I’m honored to be stewarding such a legendary and beloved radio station.

We believe that free speech is sacred, and in fact, KFOG would have ceased to exist many times over the years without its protection and guarantees. That said, we stand in solidarity against violence, intimidation, and hate.

We believe that the music should and will speak for itself. As DJs, we are better at communicating via music than anything else. And we are lucky that KFOG has been the home for thousands of artists throughout the years that speak to activism, advocacy, and action much more eloquently than we can.

The intent behind playing these songs on this weekend is not to editorialize, but to demonstrate that we stand in solidarity with our community- and the artists that built KFOG- against ignorance and violence and for unity and civility.

It is our hope that the KFOG community can channel its collective frustration towards more positive and productive means this weekend. One way to do this is to provide material support to organizations that do the hard work of staving off the forces that seek to marginalize and dehumanize our friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, and fellow humans.

To that end, you’ll find several non-profit organizations below- both local and national- that would benefit from your support. We hope the music moves you to get involved.

• La Raza Centro Legal, a community-based legal organization dedicated to empowering Latino, immigrant and low-income communities of San Francisco to advocate for their civil and human rights
• The East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) which advances justice through legal education and advocacy by providing legal services to clients, communities and causes that are marginalized and disadvantaged by historic and current discrimination.
• The Southern Poverty Law Center, dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society.
• American Civil Liberites Union (ACLU) work to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

As always, we appreciate you. Couldn’t do this without you. Thanks for being here.

-Mat