ABSTRACT
In 2010, the United States Congress signed into law the “Local Community Radio Act” and hundreds of media activists, critical communication scholars, and social justice community organizations celebrated the passage of this legislation since it opened the opportunity for the wide expansion of community radio nationwide. The Community Radio Movement of the 1960s and 1970s was also an attempt to provide an alternative to mainstream commercial and public radio because it emphasized the broadcasting of voices and issues that were often left unheard in traditional outlets. It is important to note that Latina/o radio broadcast access is also racialized because White-Anglo individuals have historically owned the majority of broadcast licenses and stations, whereas Latinas/os and people of color have generally been left out of structures of broadcast power. This also maps onto ideas about which communities have the capacity to utilize the airwaves as a productive resource.
