“The texts, the petitions, the regulations, the delegations are one thing, but living, social groups taking real control is another.” – Felix Guattari, “Popular Free Radio” (1993)

Free Radio Now is a collective of media activists, radio engineers, artists, and community members united by the conviction that the airwaves belong to the people. We are working in the continuation of the free radio movement, a worldwide lineage of community-powered low-power broadcasting that has long stood in opposition to the media corporatization and state-sponsored efforts to silence voices pushed to the margins. Amid the rising tide of fascism in the United States and worldwide, we are interested in building a movement of solidarity around decentralized communication and micropower broadcasting.

When the free radio movement was at its height in the 1990s, the digital realm still contained some of its original promise to democratize access to information and foster connectivity across distance. In the decades since, media access has become homogenized; a handful of corporations now control the majority of media that reaches us, whether through algorithms, streaming sites, or web browsers. The “digital commons” has collapsed under the monetary potential of the screen. With our attention economized, we remain vulnerable to surveillance and manipulation now more than ever before. As we witness the construction of collapse under the tyranny of the screen, we turn to the potential of analog technologies to create a liberatory future.

Radio waves surround us at all times. Part of the earth’s electromagnetic spectrum, these pulses of energy have been harnessed for just over 100 years to foster wireless communication. It is a reliable, sturdy technology that has held up against the test of time. After severe weather events, when digital communications fail, it is the radio stations that provide crucial, localized information. The free radio movement is composed of a worldwide, decades-long series of localized experiments in communication, often started by neighbors who wanted to be in direct communication with their neighbors.

Free Radio Now seeks to amplify the power of the voice. We’re not seeking permission to do so. We reject the notion that the airwaves are a commodity to be bought and sold. We are grateful to and galvanized by the inciters of the free radio movement in the United States, including Mbanna Kantako of Human Rights Radio, Napoleon Williams of Black Liberation Radio, Free Radio Berkeley, and others in the low-power movement who have seized the airwaves to pass the mic to community.

Free Radio Now: Liberating the Commons. Amplifying Resistance. Now More Than Ever.

Write to us: info@freeradionow.org

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