Stand up to Charles Barkley with #SanAntonioProud

A call to act by KENS 5 producer Anita Hines

What a wild three days it has been...

What a wild three days it's been! On Wednesday, I sent an e-mail to my boss in an effort to stop us from running Charles Barkley’s comments about San Antonio women.  Two days, 300,000+ views, 700+ Facebook comments, and several tweets, e-mails and voicemails later: here I am trying to process it all.
 

VOICE:

I never imagined sending that e-mail would lead to all this, but I'm so glad that it did.

After my e-mail was posted on the web, my stomach was in knots. I didn’t sleep a wink for more than 24 hours. I read every comment, and when I say every, I mean EVERY comment. It was so intriguing! I couldn’t pull myself away. I still can’t. San Antonio is having a dialogue about a serious issue in our community. People are inspired to take action. Oh my goodness, there’s a petition on change.org! It’s this TV journalist’s dream come true. This is what I come to work for. This is why I do what I do.  
 

As I was getting ready for work last night, I noticed this decal I placed above my mirror that I hadn’t looked at in a while. It says “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. It really didn’t make me feel like leaping over any walls or moving any mountains, but the positive responses I’ve been getting from the people of  San Antonio sure has! Especially the two women who left me voicemails. As I was listening to them this morning, I had to hold my breath to keep from crying in front of my producers. Both of the women want to take positive action in response to Barkley’s comments. One of the women, (I’m not sure if I’m spelling it correctly) Mari, suggested that KENS come up with a logo representing #sanantonioproud that people could put as their profile pictures on Facebook. Great idea! The other woman, Ms. Webb, said she contacted the NBA and TNT about the comments. She asked me to call her so we can talk about what we can do as a community to fight back. We had a great conversation!
 

I never imagined sending that e-mail would lead to all this, but I’m so glad it did. While the whole thing has been personally overwhelming, I believe our community will be better for it. So let’s do this, San Antonio! Mari, we’re working on a logo. Please be on the lookout for it. Ms. Webb, my co-workers and I have reached out to TNT for a response as well. TNT has not commented yet. While we're waiting, I want to hear more from you. I know this all started over Charles Barkley’s comments, but I think it’s so much bigger than that. So this is what I want to know: What do you think we can do to stand up for women and our community as a whole? I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts. 

Have a great weekend and Happy Mother’s Day!
 

Anita Hines
Morning Executive Producer

San Antonio responds

Join the conversation on Twitter.  Tell everyone what makes you #SanAntonioProud.  Here's a sampling of recent tweets.
 

Stand up to Charles Barkley with #SanAntonioProud
  1. What a wild three days it has been...
  2. San Antonio responds