There are a kazillion articles about Amy Goodman. Just click "Amy Goodman" on your internet search engine and you can learn all about her stint at NPR and her break-away founding of Democracy Now! You can read about her co-broadcaster on Democracy Now, Juan Gonzalez. Just let your ‘mouse’ take you to sites that describe her award-winning journalism and read about her exploits in war zones, experiences that fueled her rage and deepened her compassion. You can learn she built a “scrappy daily radio show into an independent media empire”. You can learn how she broadcasts from an old firehouse a half dozen blocks from Ground Zero and about all the political figures, and ‘real’ people, musicians, and prophets who provide the content of her show. It’s all there. And on Friday night, it was all present when Amy Goodman strode out on to the stage at St. Joan of Arc and started to talk.
But first, there was the hurly burly as the true believers gathered. There were glad cries of recognition as the activists of the 60s and 70s, who never quit the fight, found each other. In the audience was the black Greek fisherman’s hat so familiar over the years. There was white hair contrasted with dreadlocks of a new generation. These were the idealists of the year 2006, 
hip and shining with their youth and dreams. They were all there and the sound reached the level of a 747 directly overhead. That is until, the MC -Executive Director/Station Manager of KFAI, Janis Lane-Ewart, took the stage to talk about the 34th anniversary of KFAI and the volunteers who made the work possible. She gave kudos also to the independent booksellers who brought Amy Goodman’s book to St. Joan of Arc that night. (Note: KFAI broadcasts from 90.3 and 106.7. Democracy Now is broadcast from noon to 1:00 PM and rebroadcast from 5:00 AM to 6:00, AM Monday through Friday.)
Then Amy Goodman strode on to the stage, a slight and intense woman, who had stories to tell. For the next two hours she talked and the audience sat transfixed. The high energy that characterized the early gathering became more somber and focused as she talked about the prostitution of news gathering with the advent of ‘embedded’ reporters. An example was the difference between the Gulf War reporting and the stark realism of Hurricane Katrina, with dead bodies floating by behind the reporters. And a young reporter in tears as a story unfolded.
She told stories about people who were turned away from their flights on airlines because of the sentiments on the t-shirts they wore. In one case the sentiment was, “support our troops” except that it was written in English and Arabic. She told about a man on his way to his home in Canada, detained and sent to Syria where he was tortured, without ever being charged with a crime, She told about a woman handcuffed in a mall and hustled out because of wearing a ‘message’ t-shirt. The next day 100 women appeared in the same mall wearing the same t-shirt. The security guards locked themselves in their office.
She told stories about the tragedies of mothers and fathers losing sons in Iraq and about the tens of thousands wounded we never hear about. She spoke about the 100,000 Iraqis who have lost their lives. She talked about the carnage in other cities around the world and the tragedies of U. S. sponsored dictatorships.
The stories can be found in their fullness in the book co-authored with her brother. STATIC: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People Who Fight Back is written by Amy Goodman and her brother, David Goodman who is an investigative journalist. They have seen war, tragedy and outrages; now they write about them in this book.
Amy Goodman and her staff are on an 80-city tour to talk about Democracy Now, “this sanctuary of dissent”. Minneapolis was fortunate to be one of the stops on her tour of personal appearances. Time constraints cut short a question and answer period but Goodman promised to talk to each person and answer any questions people had. I left at 10:00PM and there was still a line of people snaking up the aisle and across the back of the gym waiting to have Amy Goodman sign their books and talk to them. That’s the kind of person Amy Goodman appears to be. Indefatigable, tough, compassionate and in for the long haul.
Special thanks to Janice Lane-Ewart for her generous presence and
cooperation in bringing Amy Goodman to Minneapolis and to St. Joan.
Special thanks to Denis Moynihan,
Outreach Director for Democracy Now
who afforded access to Ms. Goodman and offered his cell phone number
if we needed to talk to him or to Amy Goodman for further information.
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