Low-power community radio station KPCN in Woodburn, OR serves the unionized farmworkers of the Willamette Valley, with news, information and entertainment in Spanish and indigenous languages. The station recently celebrated its 10th anniversary on the air, which we recognized on episode #72 of the podcast.
At this past weekend’s Alliance for Community Media Northwest Summit Ramón Ramirez, president of the station’s parent organization Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN), gave the opening keynote, entitled, “Building Community Power Through Your Community Media Center: 10 Years of KPCN Radio Movimiento.”
Presented on the birthday of labor and civil right leader César Chávez, in this talk Ramirez traces the history of farmworkers in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, along with the legacy of Chávez, who encouraged them to form their own union. He recounts how the radio station grew out of being denied brokered time on a local commercial station, and explains how its programming serves the diverse needs of the community.
The entire keynote was recorded by the host station, Open Signal, and is available on YouTube.
