Photo courtesy of Maya Santamaria
La Raza Radio offices
Ruins of the historic building that used to house La Raza Radio offices, El Nuevo Rodeo, Town Talk, and more.
If you had tuned in to 95.7 FM on Thursday, you would have heard voices like that of Axel, “El Compa de Chihuahua,” fielding calls from jubilant listeners in between sets of popular Mexican tunes. One caller told him her 8-year-old son cried because he missed the radio program, which was absent from local airways for a week after the building that housed La Raza Radio KMNV 95.7 FM & 1400 AM, was caught in the fires on the second night of protests of the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
You would have heard Jessica Acevedo, "La Trompudita," covering the day’s headlines, from the George Floyd memorial service to the latest Covid 19 numbers in Minnesota. Callers welcomed her back, shared their sympathy and support for La Raza, an indispensable source of news and entertainment for the Twin Cities Latino community. The tone at the station on its first day back was overwhelmingly positive and optimistic. One caller said she was certain the community would come back stronger than ever.
La Raza’s 4th-floor studios in the historic International Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) building burned to the ground in the early morning of May 28. Located one block from the 3rd Precinct that was burned by protesters, the building also housed El Nuevo Rodeo nightclub, Town Talk Diner, Gandhi Mahal Restaurant, and other small businesses.
"This was my life's work, in ruins," said Maya Santamaria, CEO of La Raza and longtime former owner of El Nuevo Rodeo. Recounting the annual Cinco de Mayo festivals she used to organize outside of El Nuevo Rodeo: "This was a cultural epicenter of art, music, culture, and life."
La Raza's quick comeback is thanks to the generous support of KFAI Fresh Air Radio 90.3 FM, which stepped in to offer a temporary home until La Raza can move to a permanent space. KFAI had a fully-equipped broadcasting studio available and ready to be used to quickly transmit La Raza’s signal to its tower site in Midtown.
“KFAI was amazing to allow us to just come in and use the studio that they just happened to have fully equipped," said Santamaria. "They’re a public nonprofit and they’re really helping us out right now.”
KFAI’s board director, Jaque Pokorney, said in a statement: “The help that we are able to give La Raza in these difficult times is right along the lines of our mission statement at KFAI as a community radio," said Pokorney. "We are proud to be able to help the station to get back on the air and re-establish its important Spanish-language programing for the community.”
Santamaria said the quick transition was only possible because of an enormous group effort. "It was difficult to do so expeditiously, because we had to start from zero," said Santamaria. "All of our intellectual property was burned to ashes. Our music catalogues, traffic, operations software and commercial files were all lost to the fire." She credited La Raza's team for working around the clock to quickly rebuild. "My studio engineers, my IT guys, my management, they just worked tirelessly. There were days that no one slept."
She also expressed gratitude to KFAI. “They have shown us heart-felt solidarity and support, and we will be eternally grateful for this kind gesture of opening their home to us," said Santamaria. "We would not have been able to transition so quickly if it weren’t for them. Minority Media is essential for our communities of color in these times of emergency. The need for reliable, fast information is an essential resource for our Latino Community if we are to rebuild and heal in the wake of this trauma in South Minneapolis, and La Raza will lead the communications around organizing and forging this effort forward.”
Santamaria said the entire community has rallied for the station, showing overwhelming support and offering resources and love in the aftermath of the attack on La Raza’s offices.
“If this is the sacrifice that we have to make to forge change in this society, then it will have all been worth it,” said Santamaria, referring to the hope for justice for George Floyd with the arrests of the other three police officers and new charges that were announced yesterday by Attorney General Keith Ellison.
In the meantime, Santamaria is looking for a new space and is close to signing a lease.
A Go Fund Me page has been created for La Raza Radio station, but so far only $2,000 of its $250,000 has been raised.
