Third Eye Radio Network

08/01/2026

Stop Using “Auto-Pay” for These 5 Bills (It’s Costing You Hundreds)
Source: Budget and the Bees

We have all been sold the lie that auto-pay is the ultimate “set it and forget it” hack for busy adults. They tell us it prevents late fees and boosts our

04/01/2026

Salute you.

U.S. Postal Service To Honor Phillis Wheatley With Heritage Stamp

The U.S. Postal Service will honor Phillis Wheatley, the first published African American poet, with the 49th Black Heritage Stamp.

29/12/2025

Black-Owned Radio: Freedom on the Dial

Across the South, Black-owned (and Black-controlled) radio stations became voices of truth, protection, culture, and organizing when most white-owned media excluded or misrepresented Black life. From the late 1940s through the Civil Rights era and beyond, these stations carried gospel in the morning, blues and R&B at night, local news all day—and freedom in between the songs.

Below are 20 historically significant Black-owned or Black-controlled radio stations, with cities and founding dates where well documented. In a few cases, ownership evolved over time, but each station played a major role in Black Southern communities or served Southern Black migrants whose lives and politics remained deeply tied to the South.

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📻 20 Black-Owned / Black-Controlled Radio Stations

1. WERD — Atlanta, Georgia (1949)
Founded by Jesse B. Blayton Sr.
The first Black-owned radio station in the United States; located in the same building as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s SCLC offices.

2. WDIA — Memphis, Tennessee (1947)
The first station programmed entirely for African Americans; launched the careers of Nat D. Williams and Rufus Thomas.

3. WJLD — Birmingham, Alabama (1949)
A key source of information during Birmingham’s civil-rights battles; deeply trusted by the Black community.

4. KCOH — Houston, Texas (1953)
Founded by W. Leonard Evans Jr.
Known for civil-rights commentary, labor issues, and Black political discussion.

5. WYLD — New Orleans, Louisiana (1959)
A cultural hub for Black New Orleans; promoted local music, Mardi Gras Indian culture, and community news.

6. WLOU — Louisville, Kentucky (1961)
Central to desegregation-era organizing and Black civic life.

7. WCHB — Inkster (Detroit area), Michigan (1956)
Founded by Wendell Cox and Hal Jackson; influenced Black radio models later used across the South.

8. WVOL — Nashville, Tennessee (1960s; Black-owned by the 1970s)
Supported civil-rights efforts and Black political education in Middle Tennessee.

9. WOKJ — Jackson, Mississippi (1970)
Gave voice to Black Mississippians in the post–Civil Rights era in a state long hostile to Black media.

10. WENN — Birmingham, Alabama (1948)
One of the most powerful Black-oriented stations in the Deep South; covered movement activity and community affairs.

11. WAMM — Flint, Michigan (1955)
Served large populations of Southern Black migrants and reflected Southern concerns.

12. WDAO — Dayton, Ohio (1962)
Important to Southern transplants; helped define modern Black radio programming.

13. WTLC — Indianapolis, Indiana (1947; Black-owned later)
Influential among Southern migration communities and Black political organizers.

14. WJPC — Chicago, Illinois (1968)
Served large Southern migrant populations and amplified Southern Black perspectives nationally.

15. WWRL — New York City (Black-owned in the 1960s)
Though not Southern, it gave national reach to Southern civil-rights voices and issues.

16. WOL — Washington, D.C. (1960)
A major Black-owned voice linking Southern civil-rights struggles to national politics.

17. WGIV — Charlotte, North Carolina (1961)
Known as “Soul City”; blended music with movement-era news and community alerts.

18. WIGO — Atlanta, Georgia (1962)
A successor to WERD’s legacy; deeply embedded in Atlanta’s Black political life.

19. WJMO — Cleveland, Ohio (1949)
Served thousands of Southern migrants and mirrored Southern Black concerns.

20. KOKY — Little Rock, Arkansas (1956)
An important station during and after school desegregation battles; a trusted voice for Black Arkansans.

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✊🏾 Why These Stations Mattered

They told the truth when white newspapers and stations would not

They warned communities about danger, police crackdowns, and racial violence

They promoted Black businesses, churches, and events

They organized quietly, spreading word of boycotts, marches, and meetings

They preserved culture, from gospel and blues to Black speech and humor

For many families, freedom didn’t arrive first in a courtroom or a newspaper—
it came through the radio.

20/12/2025

I Started Covering the COVID-19 Crisis in Albany, Georgia. This Moment Made Me Realize There Was a Bigger Story to Tell.

The virus had killed about 38 people, most of them Black, by April 2020. But when a white judge died, local officials made sure to announce her name.

18/12/2025

Happy birthday

in 1917, actor, playwright and civil rights activist Ossie Davis was born in Cogdell, Georgia.

He saw racism from his youth with the K*K threatening his father because of the advanced job he held as a Black man. His father, Kince, eventually left the job, seeking greater independence.

Davis became a voracious reader and dreamed of being a writer. After graduating high school, he hitchhiked to Washington, D.C. and attended Howard University. Davis dropped out of Howard University to pursue acting in New York City.

Davis landed the lead role in the 1946 Broadway play “Jeb” about a disabled veteran battling racism in Louisiana. There he met his wife-to-be, Ruby Dee, whom he married two years later. The pair appeared in Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin the Sun” and became active in the civil rights movement.

They became friends with Martin Luther King Jr., helping organize and emcee the 1963 March on Washington. They also became friends and supporters of Malcolm X. Davis gave the eulogy at Malcolm X’s funeral — a eulogy he reprised with his rich baritone in Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X.”

“Here—at this final hour, in this quiet place—Harlem has come to bid farewell to one of its brightest hopes—extinguished now, and gone from us forever,” he said. “He was our manhood, our living, Black manhood! This was his meaning to his people. And, in honoring him, we honor the best in ourselves. … Consigning these mortal remains to earth, the common mother of all, secure in the knowledge that what we place in the ground is no more now a man—but a seed—which, after the winter of our discontent, will come forth again to meet us. And we will know him then for what he was and is—a prince—our own Black shining prince!—who didn’t hesitate to die, because he loved us so.”

Davis and Dee appeared in other Lee movies, including “Do the Right Thing,” and often took on racial injustices and civil rights in their work. In 2004, they were honored at the Kennedy Center for taking “their art to colleges, community centers, cafeterias, hospitals, union halls and prisons. Wherever they stood was their stage.”

Ten months later, Davis died, and Broadway turned down the lights on marquees to honor him.
https://mississippitoday.org/2024/12/18/1917-ossie-davis-born/

17/12/2025

Please do your research. We are just sharing.

Temperatures have already dipped below freezing in Georgia and there's more frigid weather coming. So, it's time to get your blankets ready and turn up the h...

17/12/2025

Salute you.

Meet Roxanne Brown, the first African American and the first woman President of the United Steelworkers - New Pittsburgh Courier

15/12/2025

On this day.

in 1961, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at a mass meeting at Shiloh Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, where the Albany Movement began. The day after King spoke, he, Ralph Abernathy and hundreds of others involved in the protest were arrested, charged with obstructing the sidewalk and parading without a permit.

Soon after King’s arrest, city officials told Albany Movement leaders that if King left, the city would desegregate buses and release protesters from jail. King left. City officials, however, failed to keep their word, and protests continued.

Six months later, King and Abernathy were found guilty of parading without a permit and ordered to either pay a $178 fine or spend 45 days in jail. They chose jail, and King explained, “We chose to serve our time because we feel so deeply about the plight of more than 700 others who have yet to be tried. … We have experienced the racist tactics of attempting to bankrupt the movement in the South through excessive bail and extended court fights. The time has now come when we must practice civil disobedience in a true sense or delay our freedom thrust for long years.”

With King behind bars, protests continued, and so did arrests. Two days after being jailed, King and Abernathy were told their bail had been paid by an unidentified Black man, and they were released. After his release, Abernathy said, “I’ve been thrown out of lots of places in my day, but never before have I been thrown out of jail.”

Setbacks in Albany helped lead to success in Birmingham. “What we learned from our mistakes in Albany,” King explained later, “helped our later campaigns in other cities to be more effective.”
https://mississippitoday.org/2024/12/15/1961-mlk-shiloh-baptist-church/