Soon the communities of the Greater Logan Heights area will have a strong voice on the airwaves.

Radio Pulso del Barrio begins broadcasting on AM1600 on Saturday, April 19th, live from Chicano Park during the annual event that commemorates the takeover of the land where the iconic park sits.

The station, which will cover a distance of about two miles around Logan Heights, is made possible thanks to an art initiative called Open Spaces, which is funded by the James Irvine Foundation through a grant administered by the San Diego Museum of Art.

Radio Pulso del Barrio will be “a community powered radio station geared to inform, educate and entertain the Logan heights and greater area,” according to its mission statement.

More than anything, it will be a platform where Logan Heights and nearby neighborhood residents can have a say, said Irma Esquivias, project coordinator for the Open Spaces program at the San Diego Museum of Art.

“I think that people are very excited to have a local radio station in the barrio,” said Esquivias, who is also a Chicano Park muralist under the artistic name of Patricia Aguayo. “It is very empowering for them.”

The first day on the air, Radio Pulso will be broadcasting live from La Bodega, an independent arts center located on Logan Ave. Throughout the day, the radio station staff will be collecting content, sending shout outs from residents, and passing out postcards about the station.

Radio Pulso del Radio later will be broadcasting a few days a week, maybe Friday through Sunday for a few hours each day, according to Esquivias. The antenna and studio will be located at Bread & Salt, a nearby art gallery. The station will also broadcast online.

Esquivias added that she and other participating artists have done informal surveys among the Greater Logan Heights Area residents to learn more about what content they would like Radio Pulso to include. Among the top sections are rancheras, a comedy hour, and more coverage and information on the coming Maritime industry referendum taking place in the summer in Barrio Logan. The goal is to have content in both English and Spanish.

Esquivias and an army of volunteers have been promoting Radio Pulso del Barrio door-to-door in the streets of Logan Heights, on Face-book, and through local organizations.

With the grant money from the James Irvine Foundation, Radio Pulso del Barrio can survive for about two years. Staff has already set up a board of directors, and is planning to apply for non-profit status to be self-sustained. Esquivias said that the goal is for the station to continue beyond the duration of the grant.

“It’s all going to depend on community participation,” she said.

For Misael Diaz, Open Spaces lead artist for the Logan Heights Greater Area, with Radio Pulso del Barrio, Logan Heights residents will have a mass medium of their own.

“I believe the most important aspect of Radio Pulso del Barrio is the fact that it will ensure the community has access to a means of communication that is completely its own—serving the community specifically,” he said.

“This will provide residents not only access to information about the community and with which the community identifies, but also provide them with the opportunity to participate in the production of that information—to share what is important to them, their passions and dreams,” Diaz said. “This, I believe, will bring the community together.”

Also, Radio Pulso del Barrio will serve as training ground for the next generation of Latino journalists in San Diego.
“It will provide a great avenue for youth who are interested in media production to learn skills that will be valuable to their education and formation as future community leaders,” Diaz said.

To learn more about Radio Pulso del Barrio, please visit www.radiopulsodelbarrio.com or facebook.com/radiopulsodelbarrio.