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Truth and Education by Kai Aiyetoro February, 2004 "If there is no struggle, there is no progress"—this is a saying that Stephen Mosely of Truth and Education Corporation definitely understands. Truth and Education finally received their construction permit on December 20, 2003, after a long battle with three other competing (MX) applications from organizations that he refers to as "bogus" groups. St. Catherine Educational Association and Grove Educational Association were LPFM applications submitted by Lyle Evans and by Ismael Martinez for an local church, Iglesia Cristo Viene. Throughout the approval process of LPFM, the name Lyle Evans has popped up on several applications whose name ends with "Educational Association." Known as "The Chief," Evans' name is on applications in Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. According to the St. Joseph Radio directory, 52 LPFM stations will soon broadcast syndicated religious programming by Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) in addition to 140 other AM, FM and translator frequencies throughout 36 U.S. territories and 2 regions in Canada. Mr. Mosely found that the board members listed on two of the MX applications were unaware of these applications. Under the direction of his engineer, he contacted them. "We talked with those individuals whose signatures appeared on these applications and asked them to sign an instrument that would allow them to file a Request for Cancellation of LPFM Application. They eagerly agreed and signed the cancellation instrument," said Mosely. On March 4, 2002, the Request for Cancellation documents were submitted to the FCC, but declined due to missing verbiage. Clarification was needed indicating three things; that the request was not made for the purpose of reaching an agreement regarding the MX application; that there was no money exchanged for the agreement; and the dismissal of the original application would serve the public interest. April 18, 2002, a second visit to the board members for signatures on the corrected requests was completed and submitted to the FCC. Mosely then commenced work on the dismissal of the third application (Iglesia Cristo Viene) in this competition for 107.1 FM in Port Arthur, TX. They discovered many problems with this application. The applicant was not aware of the application made in Port Arthur—he was under the impression that his engineer had filed for a frequency in Baytown, TX. The applicant's residence in Baytown was 122 miles away from the proposed transmitter site. Although his intention was to develop a station in Beauxart Gardens, TX, he would not release the application submitted for the frequency in Port Arthur. On June 6, 2002, Mosely filed a Motion to Dismiss against Iglesia Cristo Viene. I met Stephen Mosely during the KOCZ-LP Barnraising in Opelousas, LA in November 2002. He was seeking contacts for assistance with this project, and expressing his frustration over the slow movement of the FCC application process. Mosely sought additional assistance with his MX situation through NFCB. His frustration escalated when he found out that all of the paperwork he had submitted to the FCC had disappeared. Yes, lost! Upon resubmission of these documents, he was told that the requests for cancellation must be submitted by the original applicants and written on their official stationery. He made a third contact with the applicants and convinced them to send the appropriate information. In collaboration with Alan Korn, attorney at law and Advisory Board Member of the NFCB LPFM Project, successful informal objections were submitted against the groups that were MXed with Truth and Education Corporation. The St. Catherine Educational Association and Groves Educational Association applications were dismissed on August 4, 2003 and Iglesia Cristo Viene on November 10, 2003. Only 32 months after their original application was submitted, Truth and Education Corporation received its construction permit on December 19, 2003. Now they have only 18 months to do the actual construction and get on the air. Stephen Mosely has been in politics for over 25 years, and understands the impact radio has on the African American community. He is running for county commissioner of Jefferson County, TX and is the president of Truth and Education Corporation. Truth and Education's mission is clear to him. "The nonprofit organization's mission is to enhance a positive image of African Americans in all Texas communities through truthful messages and education. Our youth are our focus in the development of this station through listenership and leadership," he said. The moral of this story is that obtaining a construction permit may
take patience, work and time to get, but well worth it when you reach
your goal and can execute your mission. Kai Aiyetoro
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