In observance of Community Media Day, WBCA releases its submission to the 2024 Alliance For Community Media's "Overall Excellence" Award!
WBCA Podcasts
2024 WBCA ACM Overall Excellence
The following is a compilation program of Producer Spotlight, a show produced by WBCA 102.9 FM Boston, to highlight our community radio producers, and to show how important Boston Neighborhood Network, WBCA, and PEG access stations all over the country are to their communities and to free speech. Enjoy. What's up y'all, this is Jessica, and you're listening to Project One on WBCA 102.9 FM Boston. I'm back with another episode, and the show should be full of new releases. A lot of things that just came out this past month. WBCA produces this show right here, WBCA Producer Spotlight. Joining us today, the DJ of Project One, which airs Fridays at 8pm right here on WBCA, the one and only Jessica Hernandez. Thank you for joining us today, Jess. Wow, thanks so much, Zimboni Jones, for having me. It's very interesting that you went to school for history. Learning about just like the history of the US in particular, whether that was doing that through film, or learning about capitalism and slavery, learning about the Civil Rights Movement, just like really important periods in black history and African-American history. So I've always had that interest in the past and really understanding how in our contemporary moment, like how did we get here? After undergrad, I ended up in a master's program at the University of Virginia, specifically for history. I think the thing that I've learned from studying and researching history is that it almost feels like all the conditions have to be perfect. Like sometimes there's just like a spark and a trigger for a community or a group or a nation to really like rise up and like speak out. So I think at least very, very recently, like 2020, the pandemic, anti-blackness policing, like that was a moment. And if you go to the wbcaradio.org website, you could submit your music to be aired on the station, or you could even submit public service announcements from your nonprofit organization. You can also enroll in our audio editing and mixing workshop, which we have just begun. Wow. So BNN has so much to offer. I'm proud of WBCA because we're starting to expand and BNN2s. We're getting more community producers in, so more content. And a lot of people are learning and taking a lot away from BNN and WBCA. This is a great jumping off point for individuals in the community, right? Moving on, Jess, for someone that's never heard your show, how would you describe your show to them? Yeah. So it's one hour of live mixing and I mix techno. The kinds of techno that I play have really strong drum elements. They're very percussive, very groovy. I also play tracks that have drifting sequences and drifting synthesizers where it feels like things are almost out of time or skip around or wander. And I also play tracks that feel very ominous and haunting, nightmarish. Now Jess, you actually got started at WBCA by becoming an intern. Like I said, at the very start of the show, I've been born and raised in Dorchester. And then I moved away for undergrad and was in that graduate program immediately after that. So I've kind of almost been away from the city for six years. So I was just doing some research around the city, like, where can I become involved? And I kind of remembered BNN like in the back of my head, like, oh, this community media station, and then I realized that you guys had a radio, WBCA. So I was just clicking around on the website and I saw that you offered internships. And so that was an avenue to dig for music, but also just, like, be exposed to radio. When learning about BNN and WBCA, I thought, like, oh, I have to do this, like, why not? Like it would be so fun to learn more about the radio format in a community setting. Yeah, I just really enjoyed learning about so many different facets of radio. So first, just like the recording process, like how to set up someone's mic levels, how to operate the mixing board, how to record the show. And while doing that, actually, like, learning about the radio hosts, learning about what they're interested in and their passions. Yeah, you've met a lot of people while you're here. Yeah. All the producers. I also like how you can see how the work that you do directly contributes to the community or directly helps the community, like, you're on the ground level. Yeah. We talk to these people on a daily basis, we get to know them. Like, when you were saying that, one of your favorite parts is first setting them up in the studio, that's when they come in and they start to tell you about their day or what's bothering them or what issues in the city are bothering them before they start to do their show. And then they, like, let loose on their show. We're acting as a platform for free speech and giving everyone an equitable opportunity to use our platform to say or express whatever opinion they desire or to entertain people in any way that they desire, as you do on Project One. Jess, do you think that BNN and WBCA are an important resource to yourself in the community? Absolutely. BNN and WBCA are kind of a stepping stone for people who either want to pursue radio and media more broadly as a hobby or for those who want to do it in a professional sense and really make this their career and there aren't many places that you can just walk into the door and actually get that experience. That's not a really accessible form of media. So I think, yeah, having a community radio station is so important. Jess, do you have any advice for anyone looking to start their own show here at BNN and WBCA? Let's start it, pursue this interest in hobby. I think another thing I'll say is that no show is going to be 100% perfect but they absolutely do get better. Great point, yeah. Yeah, I've been doing this for several months now, yeah, and I can remember being so nervous for my first show and thinking like, "Oh my God, this was horrible, I need to re-record. This is awful." Like every show after that, I'm becoming less critical of myself and also giving myself credit for the ways I really have improved. And every show is an opportunity to get better and learn more. Yo, what's going on? It's your boy, keeping Mikey. Listen to one of 2.9 take deck and tonight we've got a basketball episode here. I got my little nephew here in the building, introduce yourself a little nephew. My name is Jayde Medina. I play basketball here from Nashville, New Hampshire. You're joining us today for WBCA producer spotlight with our very own producer Michael Reyes of the show, The Tape Deck Hour. How are you doing today? Oh, it's a pleasure to be here. First and foremost, I got to give a shout out to Boston traffic. It's the worst in the world but I'm happy to be here. How do you first get involved with WBCA? I was helping out my friend. He was doing a video but behind the scenes I was just cloning on everybody between the director and the models and the dancers. I was just being that pain in the butt. I came across this lady and she thought it was a comedian because I had her laugh and also so like, have you ever thought, are you like a comedian? Have you thought about doing stand up? That lady ended up being Britt Johnson and she had a show called Boston City News. I became a guest and then I just came again but she was on me the whole time and you should do the radio. You have a voice for radio. She was on me for like almost a year. So I took all the information on how to like try out. However you say for the radio station and I fell in love doing what I do. It's been three years now. The tape deck I was on for three years. For those who haven't listened to the tape deck hour before, what's your elevator pitch for what people will hear? When I first started the whole idea behind it was two things just give you that good '90s hip-hop, R&B and I'll just bring all this local artists. I'm gonna be big on supporting your local artists and serve for your community. I have a Cuban background, so once in a while I try to throw like a little bit of Cuban music out there. It's just a little Latin flavor. And the fact that I have the platform that I have to bring awareness towards my community is very important. Being on WBC on the radio, what do you think is special about this community platform for getting out messages like that? It's very important first and foremost. The thing with Cuba is very sensitive to me, you know, once I hear the story where my parents went through and my grandfather and even my uncle, they were the first ones to leave Cuba. Then you come across other Cubans that they all went through the same misery and the same story. So the fact that I'm able to bring that kind of awareness and not only that, I'm able to bring people from my community to come to my platform to share their stories. A lot of political figures, college professors, just things that you wouldn't see me do because I'm so used to being a music head, but there's other things that interest me outside of music. So stuff that happens within my community, things that happens within my culture, but it takes a lot. It's the sort of thing you're going to hear bits and pieces about somewhere else, but you're not going to get the full story, you're not going to get, you know, you're a unique story anywhere else really than someplace like this. You know, a lot of people, you know, when they deal with that system, they try to bury that. But now what happened when you bury that kind of problem, you know, history repeats itself so you'll be able to tell people what's going on. And one of the things that I've been screaming off the top of my lungs, listen to the people that experience that kind of system in their stories. It's a hell of a story. I'll tell you that for a fact. I try to bring a lot of awareness until what happens in that island. And I've been having a lot of artists within the show, which reminds me that I've got the back track. I had a Grammy Award winning the artist on my show. Oh, God, I forgot that was one of my major accomplishments. I was outside of Meli Mel. He won a Latin Grammy Award last year, song of the year and funky. He's a Cuban rapper. The name of the song is called "Pate Rida" and that was a really dope experience because I'm like, "Oh, I just saw you at the Grammy last year and now you're here doing my underground show." He told me he was just really appreciating, very grateful because one of the things he wants to do is talk to an American audience and I was able to give him that representation. Do you have a favorite part of your show that you always love doing? Yes, one, when I get a chance to, I like to play a certain song and then once a song is over, I play like the original version of where it came from because even people that heard my show, they'd be like, "Oh, this song came from that song, I didn't know that." But as much as I become such a hip-hop, I had this more to me than the hip-hop. So I might give you a little theater thing and like I said, probably by next week I might give you a Ms. Robbing and River Dance or In the Heights or something like that. Yeah, you can never be too sure. It's back to the other spectrum when you hear the take-back and playing local artists. Like I love hearing people around my area just for the fact they have a drive. They have an ambition, they have a dream. You said you spent a year being nervous about starting your show but then here you are three years later still doing the show. So I assume that you're enjoying it. I love it. It's just so much fun. The fact that I can like control the boards, go to the professional, get to press all these buttons, get to rock on the mic. It's an awesome experience and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Do you have any advice for somebody who might be interested in getting their message out there? Maybe being on the radio, maybe coming here, generally sharing their story. What would you tell to somebody who's trying to build up confidence to do that? In order to do that, you've got to have the confidence, just reach out to anybody. I mean, you can reach out to me. Don't have any fear to tell your stories and you've got to go do something, you know, do it. It took a lot of courage for me to do one or two point and take that. It took me a year but you know, I think it's one of those things that once you build confidence and you've got the right people giving you the confidence to push you, you can use to it. You learn a lot though, the way you get to be comfortable on the mic, you learn that mistakes is good because I catch myself doing a lot of mistakes but then the good thing about mistakes you learn from it. Do you have any last messages that you want to share to, you know, anyone out there who also has something in their blood to perform, to create, to entertain but might not be doing it yet? If you believe it, you could achieve it. So you know, just go for it. Life is too short. If you got a dream, just go for it and most importantly, you could catch me every Friday from six to seven on Fridays at the tape deck hour, one or two for nine. I'm here, Boston again. Good afternoon. I'm your host Larry Hingham bottom of the name of the show is observation of the trenches from the trenches. From the trenches. You listen to WBCA 102.9 FM in Boston. Hope you're doing well and today I want to have this a very simple conversation. This is an American who identifies as a stand for Americanism of slavery, not slavery but became out of that institution. That's not limited. I want to really put on to the atmosphere some for the young folks. Those who come behind us. They talk to the culture. It's not good for the group. I want to just put it out to the young people. Joining us today, the host of observations from the trenches, which airs on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. on WBCA, the one and only the illustrious Larry Hingham bottom. Thank you for joining us Larry. My pleasure. My pleasure. To begin here. I'm just going to have you introduce yourself a bit of your background. My name is Larry Hingham bottom. I was born in 1953 in a place called Madison, Mississippi, a very small town. We lived in Birmingham as a youth with probably that great southern migration of blacks leaving the south heading north, east and west. My folks chose to come to Boston. I thank God for that. I'm a graduate of UMass Boston. I got my license from a licensed clinical social worker by trade and I also own a mid-up clinic, one of the few black owned clinics in the state. What's your favorite part about doing the work that you do? Freedom. Because I have the autonomy, right? We see folks by appointment that works for them. I'm in their home. I'm on their turf. I'm going to see how they are existing. I'm going to see how the families function, their resources. I also got to see how they interact with their children and vice versa. You can enter C at that moment. You got to chief fuck what you don't know. If they knew better, they'd do better. You got to be in their environment because many will not come to the clinic on a consistent basis. I knew it would be in the house on that turf, but you need folks who are comfortable building the environment. Why? A lot of these are working class people and you got to be comfortable in their turf and their environment. And they have to be comfortable with you as well. Exactly. They have to feel like you are one of them and you've been through the same type of things that really helps. What do you think are some of the biggest issues affecting the families that you visit? Somehow, we have forgotten about having standards, supposed to live by. We've also lost the sense of having a coherent family. A lot of young folks with services through DCF and Medicaid, female-headed families and all the research shows that those young kids, for the most part, they are worse than kids who are raised in two parent households. You find that a lot of these parents, right, are overextended, overstretched, lacking both financial resources, physical resources, mental maturity. Kids end up not getting what they need. For someone who has never listened to observations from the trenches, how would you describe your show to them? Well, this show focuses on American-born blacks or adults, as I identify as a stand for American sense of slaves. Again, I'm not against any group, but I think my group's issues have been totally taken off the board. So being out in the trenches, I get to see how a lot of our people, right, who just got left behind. That's why all the literature that I've read, and that's why I'll be quoting from a research story, shows that my group, for the most part, by 2053, will be a permanent underclass with no wealth. So again, if you don't take action now, well, that means in 30 years, right, you're really going to be under. And most people already under water, and I'm able to say that, thank God, with this platform to that group. And I like how, on your show, you have an emphasis of trying to get people to do their own research, trying to make sure that people educate themselves. You also have an emphasis on improving your position in society. So getting an education, perhaps going into a trade, kind of trying to move yourself up in society. And to also, as you mentioned a lot on your show, too, leave something behind for the next generation, improve the wealth for the next generation. And again, yes, strong and curious folks, how they must acquire what I call essential high income skills. How did you get started at BNN and WBCA? Oh, wow. Are we going back to 2001, you guys are located down in the start of Washington Park Mall. And I wanted to have a platform to speak from what I was seeing out in the community, in these families. I don't think that was being expressed. But I wanted to have a platform because I thought a lot of things that affected my community and people I saw was not being spoken to. And do you think that BNN and WBCA being Peg Access Station that serves the communities of Boston, how important is that for these neighborhoods? Essential is essential that people have a platform where they can come and speak from their perspective what they see and have a freedom right to express different points of view. I can tell folks, my belief, my point of view, might not sit with everybody, but it comes to what's out there now. So again, this here allows me, and folks like me, to be able to speak from our worldview from what I'm seeing. We need a opposing worldview to contrast currently what's out there, because what's out there is not working for the group. Do you think that you've learned a lot from being here? It allows me to expand my horizon, it allows me to see things from a different perspective. A lot of folks are here in my show, and we talk in the community, but they hear and they give me feedback. They say, you know, right on there, where I'm there, I did it with you. But at least they're hearing it and they're seeing a different viewpoint out there in their ways. So I'm grateful for that. And you can also consider it as you're doing a community service too, like you're informing the community or you're entertaining the community as well. Exactly. And you've been listening to our WBCA producer spotlight on WBCA 102.9 FM Boston Boston's community radio station. I am your host, Zamboni Jones joined by Larry Higginbottom today, the host and producer of observations from the trenches. What advice do you have for new BNN WBCA producers? Keep on things that are pertinent to you, things that matters to you. And so if you've got some that you are passionate about, this will be a nice venue, right, to do that. I just talk, you know, from my perspective. So but, you know, the very relaxing, comfortable atmosphere are here, you know, I'll support what you need and just speak about things that are true to your heart, that you want to put out there in the atmosphere for folks to consider. So you know, the platform's here, so we don't take advantage of it.