Activist out as radio show host

WMNF-FM managers decide Connie Burton, a frequent critic of Tampa government, was focusing on a single group's voice.

TAMPA - Straight Talk, the hour-long talk show hosted by outspoken African-American activist Connie Burton, has been taken off the air by the management at WMNF-FM 88.5, who said it no longer met the mission of the public station.

Station manager Vicki Santa said the show, which aired from 9 to 10 a.m. on Sundays, had aligned itself with the singular viewpoint of the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, a St. Petersburg militant group that counts Burton as a member.

Burton, 48, the former president of the Robles Park Tenants' Association, championed the rights of public housing residents, but became a bitter critic of the Tampa Housing Authority after she was evicted when a son was arrested on drug charges.

Burton's run as Straight Talk host lasted nine years, ending at WMNF on Monday.

"Somewhere along the way, Connie became part of the Uhuru movement," said Santa, "and the show became a voice for that movement and no other voices were being heard."

WMNF's mission statement on its Web site says it "celebrates local cultural diversity and is committed to equality, peace and social and economic justice."

Santa said the action to drop Burton's show also was taken because of a recent board decision barring organizations from controlling programs on WMNF.

"This was not a quick and arbitrary decision," said WMNF board member Jeanne Holton. "I think these discussions have been going on four or five years.

"The role her show plays for the African-American community is an important one. But I think it is true that our mission was no longer being met."

Burton said there was no justification for dropping the show. "They considered Straight Talk to be a thorn in their side. It's been a point of contention with them, based on their core listening group."

She said she believed her talk show dovetailed with WMNF's mission. "That's what our show is about - issues that concern poor, working class people."

The Uhurus denounced the dropping of Straight Talk as "unjust" and called it an attempt "to stifle the African-American voice" in a press release. The Uhurus will have a press conference at the station on Friday at 10 a.m. and intend to picket WMNF on Monday, the release said.

Burton has seven days to appeal the decision to remove her as volunteer host, Santa said, and in the meantime station officials are considering how best to fill the Straight Talk spot.

Burton has lived for most of two decades in public housing at Robles Park.

In 1996, she was accused of shoving a Tampa police officer and trying to incite a riot after she co-hosted a party with a convicted drug dealer. As a result of pretrial intervention, the criminal charges were dropped when Burton agreed to work to ease tensions between public housing residents and police.

In 1999, the Housing Authority used the so-called "one-strike law" to begin eviction proceedings against Burton after a son was arrested for marijuana possession. A jury upheld an eviction order, but a judge threw the decision out, and a new trial is pending.

In recent years, Burton used the WMNF airwaves to fire back at police and government officials. She accused former Tampa police Chief Bennie Holder, an African-American, of being insensitive to the needs of blacks. She called Housing Authority boss Jerome Ryans, another African-American, a "thin-skinned parasite."

On a recent Straight Talk program, one of Burton's guests criticized police, saying, "The Africa n community needs to understand that the pigs are not their friends." Burton issued a denunciation of those who "lick the boots of white power."

That kind of talk brought mail to WMNF news director Rob Lorie, saying Burton's show was dragging the station "down into the mud."

But Santa said dropping Burton's show doesn't mean WMNF will no longer air the views of Burton or the Uhurus.

"It's not about silencing," she said. "It's about finding a different way to bring together as many voices as possible."

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