In terms of being an African American radio pioneer, what was it like in the fifties?
It was horrible. I had a degree in journalism and still had to act like a fool while on the radio. They didn’t think Black folks had any intelligence. They thought we weren’t intelligent enough to do anything other than be buffoons and clowns. The industry was very segregated, as it is now. Being Black in America is the same as being Black on the radio: it is such a closed, limited industry. So it was pretty tough just to get a job. The Black radio stations were under-financed, their staff underpaid. But if you loved it, you stayed. While a white disc jockey was making $200, maybe $250 dollars a week, we were making $40 if that much. And we had to purchase airtime from the white owners. You had to find someone who would sell you time. So, in effect, they weren’t paying us anything. They were just giving us commission on what we sold. We would go out and buy airtime and sell it to Coca-Cola. They’d pay us perhaps $50 for a week’s worth of commercials. Out of $50 we would have to take ba
