Dennis J. Bernstein

Dennis J Bernstein is an award-winning investigative reporter for print and radio. He is the producer and host of the award-winning radio news program, Flashpoints Radio on Pacifica Radio. Flashpoints originates from Pacifica Radio's flagship radio station, KPFA, the world's first listener-sponsored non-commercial FM radio.

The Fight for Free Speech

Bernstein was arrested on July 13, 1999 after airing a report on his Flashpoints program, which revealed that a new renegade board was considering selling KPFA and Pacifica's sister station WBAI in New York. He was cornered in an on-air studio after his broadcast by four to six armed thugs from a private security agency hired by the network.

After Bernstein informed the world over the airwaves about the corporate raid, he sat down and committed civil disobedience to call attention to what he called "the greatest public grand larceny in Berkeley's history." Four hours later, after an in-depth dialogue with then Berkeley Chief of Police, Butler Yeats, Bernstein was cuffed and arrested. Ultimately, Bernstein's cry for help was answered by tens of thousands of listeners who purged the renegade board and liberated what has been called “the only people's radio network in America.”

Such community leaders and KPFA supporters as Alice Walker, the late June Jordan, Joan Baez, Michael Franti, Michael Moore, the late Grace Paley, United Farm Workers of America founder Dolores Huerta, Ani DiFranco, and tens of thousands of others fought to keep the network free and devoted to free speech and giving a platform for the voiceless and the disinherited.

Poetry, Muriel Rukeyser, and The New York Quarterly

Bernstein's recent poems have appeared in "The Texas Observer", "The Progressive," [http://www.zyzzyva.org/ "ZZYZYVA"] , and "The New York Quarterly". Bernstein's poem, "Getting Tough," appeared in "The New York Quarterly" best-of anthology, issue 26, edited by William Packard.

Bernstein had the privilege of working with "New York Quarterly" founder William Packard to record most of Packard's plays, including the mini-masterpiece, "Ty Cobb."

Bernstein also worked closely with the late poet and biographer Muriel Rukeyser, who was also the president of the international writers' association, PEN. Bernstein initially founded the Muriel Rukeyser Center for the Arts in Park Slope, Brooklyn, a place where Muriel said people had “the opportunity to experience the arts where they live and work.” In this context, Bernstein later founded the Muriel Rukeyser reading series, "On the Air." The reading series was aired on radio station WBAI in New York City and featured interviews with activists and writers such as Muriel Rukeyser, Robert Bly, Grace Paley, Denise Levertov, Audre Lorde, Quincy Troupe, Gregory Orr, and many others.

Bernstein produced the first ever live continuous broadcast of James Joyce's "Ulysses," at what was then known as The Bloomsday Bookstore on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Bernstein also produced a series of portrait documentaries of poets such as the late "New York Quarterly" editor William Packard, Muriel Rukeyser, and others for the New Letters "On the Air" national radio show.

Bernstein's artist books with noted book artist and author [http://www.earsay.org/earsay/index.html Warren Lehrer] , [http://www.warrenlehrer.com/books/frenchfries/main.html "French Fries"] and [http://www.warrenlehrer.com/books/grrrhhhh/main.html "Grrrhhhh: A Study of Social Patterns"] , are a part of the special books collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Louvre in Paris. "French Fries" was featured and performed at the International Book Art Festival. "Grrrhhhh" was visualized as a production at the Dance Theater Workshop of New York City.

Bernstein's chapbook of poems, "Particles of Light," accompanied a traveling exhibition of woodcuts depicting family life in everyday America. The poems were greeted positively by the "New York Times" and the exhibition traveled from coast to coast.

Bernstein's essays and writing have appeared in magazines and other publications such as "The Nation", "The Philadelphia Inquirer", "The Denver Post", "Rocky Mountain News", "Minneapolis Star Tribune, San Jose Mercury News, Dallas Morning News, Vibe," [http://www.heliconnine.com/ "Helicon Nine Reader"] , "The New York Times," "The Boston Globe", "The London Observer", "Utne Reader," "Mother Jones", "San Francisco Chronicle," [http://www.kyotojournal.org/ "Kyoto Journal"] , "Spin", "The Progressive," and "The Village Voice".

Bernstein's essays and poetry have been anthologized in "The Shape of the Century, Health and Society, Appeal to Reason", the Helicon Nine Reader, "Spud Songs", and more.

He also authored a blues opera, "Ann at 94", with singer/songwriter [http://biajasolomon.com/pages/1/index.htm Biaja Solomon] .

Politics, Education, and Culture

Bernstein co-authored "Henry Hyde's Moral Universe: Where More Than Time and Space are Warped."

Bernstein is also a contributor to the recent volume titled "Impeach the President: The Case Against Bush and Cheney," with an introduction by Howard Zinn.

Bernstein has lectured at such universities as the University of California at Berkeley, City University of New York, Columbia University, Rutgers University, University of California Santa Cruz, Claremont College, New York University, The New School, Sonoma State University, and many others.

Bernstein is the recipient of the Art of Peace Award, the International Service Journalism Award from Friends World College, a Golden Reel from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, and six Project Censored awards for investigative reporting.

Dennis Bernstein's politics have often earned him the wrath of the Israeli lobby and the Jewish community. His decision to give a platform to the extraordinary oppression faced by Palestinians in the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine has triggered a wave of despisals leveled at his character accusing him of being a self-hating Jew who has become a traitor to his own religion and to God.

The internationally renowned journalist and author Robert Fisk has written poignantly about Bernstein's plight and the plight of anyone who dares to tell the truth about what's really going on on the ground in Israel and Palestine. Fisk quotes Bernstein in the 09 July 2002 edition of "The Independent" of London as saying: “Any US journalist, columnist, editor, college professor, student-activist, public official or clergy member who dares to speak critically of Israel or accurately report the brutalities of its illegal occupation will be vilified as an anti-Semite."

External links

* [http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/17917 "Interview With Dennis Kucinich"] , by Dennis Bernstein
* [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/28/obama-finance-chair-linke_n_88884.html "Obama Finance Chair Linked To Subprime Industry"] , by Dennis Bernstein
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yy3RDhCpto Bernstein interviews Goldstar Mom Cindy Sheehan on what would have been her son Casey's 29th birthday]
* [http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0710-07.htm "A Strange Kind of Freedom"] , by Robert Fisk, "The Independent"
* [http://www.flashpoints.net/WhoIsDennisBernstein.html Flashpoints.net: Dennis Bernstein]
* [http://www.pomerleau.org/sounds/dennisbernstein28k.ram KPFA archive of Bernstein being escorted by armed guards out of KPFA in 1999 live on the radio]
* [http://www.wbai.net/images/db.jpgPhoto of Bernstein being escorted by armed guards out of KPFA in 1999]
* [http://www.kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=14251 Flashpoints archive: report of break-in ~54:30]
* [http://www.counterpunch.org/bernstein.html "Nation's Oldest Public Station Under Arrest"] , by Dennis Bernstein
* [http://www.villagevoice.com/news/9929,cotts,7172,6.html "Free Speech For Sale"] , by Cynthia Cotts, "The Village Voice"
* [http://freestone.com/kpfa/kpfamichaelmlttr.html "Michael Moore's Letter to Pacifica"]
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/e/a/1999/07/21/STYLE8191.dtl&o=0 Photo of Bernstein, Joan Baez, and Robbie Osman]
* [http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://lh5.ggpht.com/_0Rnq2kc_dP8/R3dErhTT-gI/AAAAAAAABWk/dCpx0JiSeDY/nyc0010.jpg&imgrefurl=http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/2ym_cYmiSdeFWaK69G-OTg&h=2399&w=3598&sz=17&hl=en&start=15&um=1&tbnid=rTY7tgktXKHCHM:&tbn Photo of Bernstein at protest of Jose Napoleon Duarte in NYC]