New ‘Black Face’ media entities spark ‘trust issues’ when it comes to pleading our cause

The more things change, the more they remain (sometimes in blackface) the same. 

It wasn’t too long ago that we had two major Black-owned grocery stores. I looked over my shoulder and they went the way of the cassette tape. And even the white ones, which replaced them, have abandoned us. 

I remember when we had one Black-owned new-car dealership (and a couple of used-car dealerships). The owner of the new car dealership is now preaching (hopefully for a new car), as the sales reps from the used car dealerships are now receiving their checks from white owners. 

Those Black banks went the way of the state’s only Black hospital (yeah, you read that right). Speaking of ‘checks,’ I used to have accounts in both Black-owned banks (my wife ran one, and we invested in the other). 

Today, there are none, unless you erroneously believe Columbia Savings and Loan is a bank (which it isn’t.) 

A decade or so ago, I could tune into Black AM and FM radio stations. Now we have none. 

Don’t be confused by the slogan ‘Black formatted’ stations. Radio station, 101.7 “The Truth” is a Black-formatted talk station, but it is owned by a white media company, Good Karma Brands. 

That left WNOV, which, to the surprise of many, was sold months after its founder and owner, Jerrel Jones’s death. The radio station was bought by Civic Media, a liberal/progressive/missionary media company whose underlying agenda is to support and moderate a far-left ideology. 

Jones’s children, who inherited WNOV, also owned the Milwaukee Courier, which the elder Jones also owned. He was the first—and probably only—simultaneous owner of a newspaper and radio station in the United States. The Courier was the state’s oldest Black newspaper as well. Now that too is in the hands of Civic Media. 

Now that distinction—of being the state’s oldest Black newspaper—belongs to the paper you’re reading, Your Milwaukee Community Journal, which, despite the odds and the ongoing Herculean efforts to secure white corporate advertising (most major white businesses place their dollars in White publications and stations, even though Milwaukee is a majority minority (AKA BLACK!!!) city. 

One Black newspaper, and no Black-owned radio stations. Hmmm, interesting if not predictable. 

Given the history of Black radio, it came as a shock when only a few months after Civic Media purchased WNOV and the Courier, it is now in the process of handing the reins of those two (white-owned) ‘Black’ media entities to a newly formed ‘trust,’ which will serve as an umbrella for something (or is it someone) called ‘Milwaukee Black Media LLC.’ 

The founding members of the trust include Alderwoman Milele Coggs (which may present a conflict of sorts), Tiffany Wynn, senior marketing leader at Ascension Health, and Roemel Brown, former sales rep for the Courier and Urban Media, who is now listed as the ‘editor’ of the Courier, which has switched from Black to white ownership, back to ‘Black ownership’; all within six months. 

The new ‘Black’ media group will be operated by a select group of ‘minorities,’ who, as I understand it are not financially invested. Hmm, again. 

The purchase of WNOV must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission (the FCC). 

If all of this sounds a bit confusing, don’t look to me to sort it out. 

My first inclination was one of fear that Black/Minority/Mixed media has been turned on its proverbial head and recreated, hopefully, for the betterment of some, but at the expense of others. 

Actually, to most folks, the changes will make little difference. The majority of Chocolate youth keep their radios tuned in to 101.7, and most older Black adults are hooked on 98.3, the oldies station; both of which are owned by whites in corporate blackface. 

During daylight hours, I’m usually hooked on “The Truth”, with occasional channel switches to WNOV to listen to Michelle Bryant and Keith Parrish. 

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Sherwin Hughes, rarely miss his show, and generally find us in lock-step ideologically. 

I’ve followed his career from his start at WNOV, to Resistance radio (a missionary station with the same call number as the Truth…Hmmmmm again), to a basement venue, and back to The Truth, at the time was new management…Good Karma Brands. 

Many, if not most, of his listeners have followed him at these various stops and would continue folling hims even if he joined Fox News or a country-western/Hillbilly station. Sherwin is the talk radio savant. Truthfully, I find something informative, if not entertaining, with most Black talk show hosts, although it’s not unusual for their topics to stray from my interests. 

My second thought about what has gone down in Black media and with the changes of ownership at WNOV and the Courier was that there are vanilla dollars in the background of this merger, which history shows should be of concern. 

Moreover, since Black talk show hosts are in career-altering competition, what happens when their loyalties are split, and they are under the same roof? 

My third thought was actually a pertinent question: How can you have a Black Media Trust without the Black Media? 

The Community Journal is the only Black-owned ‘newspaper,’ given that the Milwaukee Times is more religiously oriented (as well as having what can only be described as ‘safe news.’ 

The Times was started by the former MCJ managing editor, Nate Conyers as the ‘Christian Times,’ and true to its origins, is today, published by a local minister. 

I also sensed some anxiousness among the staff of “The Truth,” even after a Tuesday staff meeting to allay any concerns about the merger. 

Indeed, if you read the chat comments during Sherwin’s show on Tuesday, many listeners are skeptical, albeit curious and/or optimistic about the merger’s potential. 

Judging from Sherwin’s comments on Tuesday, he, too, is guardedly optimistic. 

But he left me confused when he lamented, “…on paper it sounds (great), but you can’t dismiss the human capital (element).’ 

That latter point came to light in reports that “The Truth” laid off, or dismissed, over 30 staff members in recent weeks. 

And while the staples remain—Hughes, ‘Doctor’ Ken Harris, Kyle Wallace, and Tory Lowe—the morning show has had as many hosts as it has guests in the last couple of years. 

Midway through his show, I could sense some trepidation in Sherwin’s voice, which may be linked to a comment he made about the hope of settling down for the long run when he contracted with Good Karma Brands. 

Interestingly, “The Truth” is running a survey asking if Black folks (I assume) think the merger is a good idea. Was the purpose of the survey to gauge support, gain support, or merely test the waters? 

I’ve been in this game for a long time, a half-century plus change to be exact. I’ve seen pioneer Black businesses come and go, often replaced by White corporations, or White folks in corporate black face. 

The MCJ remains the staple, the most influential Black newspaper in the state, and represents the idiom espoused by the founders of the Black Press—John Russworm and Samuel Cornish—who said in 1827: “We (Black folks) wish to plead our own cause…too long have others spoken for us; too long has the public been deceived by misrepresentations.” 

I’m always suspicious of shifts in the face of Black/white change. There are those who wish to control not only the advocacy but also the limited dollars. 

I can’t say the architects of this merger have a hidden agenda—— financial or otherwise—— but we’re not just talking about who pleads our cause; we’re talking about who comes out ahead financially. 

Hotep.