1 00:00:01,020 --> 00:00:03,960 He came here looking for the promised land and he didn't find 2 00:00:03,960 --> 00:00:08,370 it. He was going to do everything that he could to make 3 00:00:08,430 --> 00:00:13,320 that happen. Not just for himself, but for his people and 4 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:18,330 for other people as well. The vision for media, in the hands 5 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:21,900 of African Americans is what he was looking for. 6 00:00:28,050 --> 00:00:29,640 Hi, Lou, how you doing? 7 00:00:29,670 --> 00:00:30,360 I'm great. 8 00:00:30,450 --> 00:00:33,870 Okay, today, you know, I really want to have a conversation with 9 00:00:33,870 --> 00:00:40,440 you focused on your life, KBBG, and the man from Mississippi, 10 00:00:40,500 --> 00:00:45,270 Jimmy Porter. So welcome to this this time for us to have a 11 00:00:45,270 --> 00:00:45,930 conversation. 12 00:00:45,930 --> 00:00:49,740 Okay, thank you very much. I'm just pleased to be here. 13 00:00:49,770 --> 00:00:54,660 You know, I've always admired your energy, focus and sense of 14 00:00:54,660 --> 00:00:59,820 responsibility, as you have shared the leadership of KB BG 15 00:00:59,850 --> 00:01:04,260 FM. And when I think about to you, Lou, with all of this 16 00:01:04,260 --> 00:01:08,310 energy, I'm always curious about where it's come from, can you 17 00:01:08,310 --> 00:01:12,540 take a moment to please tell us about your background, and the 18 00:01:12,540 --> 00:01:14,040 source of your strength. 19 00:01:14,570 --> 00:01:22,190 And I was extremely fortunate and blessed to have a family to 20 00:01:22,190 --> 00:01:26,480 have a mother and a father who cared who raised us, there were 21 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:31,670 three boys and five girls. They always had high expectations for 22 00:01:31,670 --> 00:01:37,610 us, would not take any less, never allowed us to blame 23 00:01:37,610 --> 00:01:41,240 someone else for our failures, always told us that we could be 24 00:01:41,270 --> 00:01:45,800 anything we wanted to be to never allow anyone to define who 25 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:51,620 we are. And so by the time we got all these lessons, and it 26 00:01:51,620 --> 00:01:57,410 wasn't even so much lessons that they told us about orally, but 27 00:01:57,500 --> 00:02:01,340 they lived what they were teaching us. And I think that 28 00:02:01,340 --> 00:02:05,060 that's the greatest thing that can happen to a child. 29 00:02:05,780 --> 00:02:08,840 The family was important. I'm hearing all of these messages 30 00:02:09,140 --> 00:02:13,670 that were coming. Where were you? I mean, was it important in 31 00:02:13,670 --> 00:02:17,600 terms of the town you grew up in? Tell us about that area? 32 00:02:17,630 --> 00:02:21,650 I grew up in a black and Mexican American neighborhood. 33 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:26,980 And so in Galesburg, yes, and it still partly that part of town 34 00:02:22,010 --> 00:02:22,280 In Galesburg. 35 00:02:26,980 --> 00:02:34,060 is still has has that makeup, but our folks realize that they 36 00:02:34,060 --> 00:02:36,790 were going to be obstacles, and that they wanted us to know who 37 00:02:36,790 --> 00:02:41,020 we were and we didn't want for one thing. My brothers were 38 00:02:41,020 --> 00:02:44,110 taught always look a person, all of us were taught always look a 39 00:02:44,110 --> 00:02:47,440 person in the eye. And when we were growing up, our parents 40 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:52,840 were just simply able to tell us and to instill in us the work 41 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:57,520 ethic, a sense of fairness, a sense that we owed something for 42 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:00,880 being on this earth, that we were our brother's keeper. I 43 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:03,820 mean, the messages just kept coming and just kept coming. And 44 00:03:03,820 --> 00:03:09,280 were reinforced by how they lived it, not how they said it, 45 00:03:09,310 --> 00:03:11,020 but how they actually lived. 46 00:03:11,050 --> 00:03:15,520 But they were role models for you pretty much as I listened to 47 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:17,680 you, I'm getting excited, saying, boy, I wish I was in 48 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:23,200 that family. But if you had to reduce all of that learning down 49 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:28,390 to just a few words, or words that would come to mind that 50 00:03:28,390 --> 00:03:33,250 would best describe the lessons of your youth that guide you 51 00:03:33,250 --> 00:03:35,410 today. What might those words be? 52 00:03:36,430 --> 00:03:41,110 I think it would be, learn to be steadfast. 53 00:03:41,820 --> 00:03:45,750 Well, what experiences led you from Galesburg to Washington, to 54 00:03:45,750 --> 00:03:48,870 Waterloo, to the communications industry? 55 00:03:49,170 --> 00:03:52,260 Over Jordan, we would always listen to that we would listen 56 00:03:52,260 --> 00:03:58,290 to sermons on the radio, who would ever think that in my 57 00:03:58,290 --> 00:04:02,790 lifetime, I would have a up close and personal experience 58 00:04:03,180 --> 00:04:06,540 with the vehicle that brought those messages to us. 59 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:12,150 And you're saying that boy, you know, I was given opportunities 60 00:04:12,180 --> 00:04:16,080 that was shaping a career that I didn't really realize were being 61 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:21,720 shaped. So just the family and the radio, and were there other 62 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:26,190 experiences with writing or speaking or anything because you 63 00:04:26,190 --> 00:04:27,570 know, you're a wonderful speaker. 64 00:04:27,780 --> 00:04:32,130 Well, believe me it was none of those really, I didn't have the 65 00:04:32,220 --> 00:04:38,010 experience that we had with our parents, again, was both my 66 00:04:38,010 --> 00:04:43,290 mother and my father, who came from Tennessee and Kentucky, had 67 00:04:43,290 --> 00:04:47,400 an eighth grade education. And so we were, again, very 68 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:52,200 fortunate in the fact that we had magazines in our house. It 69 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:56,760 was not unusual to see my mother and my father to read they had 70 00:04:56,760 --> 00:04:59,580 these chairs, they would sit down and they would read the 71 00:04:59,580 --> 00:05:05,580 Bible. It was not unusual to hear prayer in our house. We 72 00:05:05,580 --> 00:05:10,260 were told, I think from the time we were small, you have to get 73 00:05:10,260 --> 00:05:15,180 an education, you have to get an education. And all of us were, 74 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:18,150 got through high school, some through college. 75 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:22,170 has happened today, because you're still with those messages 76 00:05:22,170 --> 00:05:25,440 from your youth, as you look out and judge what's going on in 77 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:31,170 society today. But then, all of a sudden, with no training, etc, 78 00:05:31,170 --> 00:05:37,080 you wind up with the the radio station, how did that happen? I 79 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:40,110 mean, you, you come from Washington, DC, where I'm sure 80 00:05:40,110 --> 00:05:44,460 they had radio, here to Waterloo, Iowa. And the next 81 00:05:44,460 --> 00:05:47,370 thing, you know, KBBG. Tell me about that a little bit. 82 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:51,590 I've always been curious. And when we were leaving Washington, 83 00:05:51,590 --> 00:05:56,210 DC and on our way to Waterloo, Iowa, someone said to me, are 84 00:05:56,210 --> 00:06:00,710 you the person who's going to Waterloo? Yes, we are. Well, did 85 00:06:00,710 --> 00:06:03,860 you know that there's a black guy out there who's trying to 86 00:06:03,860 --> 00:06:08,180 start a radio station? And I said, well, he must be nuts. I 87 00:06:08,180 --> 00:06:11,630 can't I couldn't even envision this knowing that the state of 88 00:06:11,630 --> 00:06:15,890 Iowa we were less than 1%, I think 30 some years ago. And so 89 00:06:15,890 --> 00:06:18,350 I'm thinking how is this guy going to do this? 90 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:25,170 I dream that Waterloo someday is going to be brought to the point 91 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:30,660 where black people are going to be treated in such a way that 92 00:06:30,660 --> 00:06:36,120 they are not going to have to continue to be treated as 93 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:44,670 underclass citizens. Every day, I am committed to resolving or 94 00:06:44,670 --> 00:06:50,250 attempting to destroy some of those things that are barriers 95 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:55,020 to the betterment not only to myself, but they're also 96 00:06:55,050 --> 00:06:59,040 threatening into my children and my grandchildren. The enabler 97 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:06,240 program is committed to finding ways and methods always and 98 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:11,520 changing method as it becomes necessary to be able to deal 99 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:16,230 with this system. And the society that we live in. 100 00:07:17,620 --> 00:07:21,460 I want to meet this guy, because I want to know where his head is 101 00:07:21,460 --> 00:07:26,080 that how could he come up with this. And I met Jimmy and of 102 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:28,990 course, he wasn't on that. And I wound up married to Jimmy 103 00:07:28,990 --> 00:07:34,150 Porter. And working with him for 30 some years in radio. I, 104 00:07:34,150 --> 00:07:35,590 He wasn't a radio person, 105 00:07:35,590 --> 00:07:37,870 None of us were. None of us sitting around the table, the 106 00:07:37,870 --> 00:07:42,070 people that he convinced to come to the table, under really 107 00:07:42,070 --> 00:07:46,780 circumstances that I don't think any of us really, really believe 108 00:07:46,810 --> 00:07:51,130 we wanted to believe, but people had had experiences that told 109 00:07:51,130 --> 00:07:53,170 them it's not going to work, it's just going to be another 110 00:07:53,170 --> 00:07:55,570 one them things and we're going to be blamed for it and black 111 00:07:55,570 --> 00:07:58,330 people gonna be in worse shape than they've ever been. This man 112 00:07:58,330 --> 00:08:01,420 is talking about a black radio station, where is he gonna get 113 00:08:01,420 --> 00:08:04,480 the money? Where's he going to get the support. And course 114 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,810 Jimmy being visionary, he had looked way down the road. In 115 00:08:07,810 --> 00:08:10,690 fact, he had looked to where we are today, and knew that we 116 00:08:10,690 --> 00:08:12,250 would go down this road. 117 00:08:12,250 --> 00:08:17,470 Let's talk about that visionary, Jimmy Porter, the man from 118 00:08:17,470 --> 00:08:20,290 Mississippi and you know, it's it's wonderful that we're 119 00:08:20,290 --> 00:08:25,510 sitting here in KBBG's boardroom talking to you, with Jimmy 120 00:08:25,510 --> 00:08:29,560 Porter smiling over our shoulder, so to speak. Who was 121 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,040 the man from Mississippi, who came to be known as the 122 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:38,170 beautiful black giant to some, and to others, he became Daddy 123 00:08:38,170 --> 00:08:40,840 Porter, tell us about Jimmy Porter. 124 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:44,260 Well, we probably would never have enough time. But I will 125 00:08:44,260 --> 00:08:48,220 tell you share, share with you a little bit of his childhood what 126 00:08:48,220 --> 00:08:52,360 I know and the circumstances. Jimmy was born in Mississippi, 127 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:59,860 grew up and at a very young age went to the cotton fields. He 128 00:08:59,860 --> 00:09:03,550 left his mother at the age of eight years old with a decision 129 00:09:03,550 --> 00:09:08,380 that he made himself that had to do with either his staying with 130 00:09:08,380 --> 00:09:12,100 his mother, or having an opportunity to go live with the 131 00:09:12,100 --> 00:09:16,750 cousin of his, and how that came about. The cousin came to visit. 132 00:09:17,050 --> 00:09:21,400 And Jimmy was in the yard. And she says to him, Oh, you're such 133 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:24,310 a pretty little black boy, wouldn't you like to go home and 134 00:09:24,310 --> 00:09:29,110 live with me? And he says, go home and live with you? Would I 135 00:09:29,110 --> 00:09:32,080 be able to eat three meals a day? And would I be allowed to 136 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:36,310 go to school? And she says, yes. He said I'll go. well making 137 00:09:36,310 --> 00:09:37,000 that decision. 138 00:09:37,030 --> 00:09:39,040 He made that kind of questioning. 139 00:09:39,070 --> 00:09:39,550 Yes. 140 00:09:39,550 --> 00:09:40,810 A part of it, food. 141 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:41,050 Yes. 142 00:09:41,050 --> 00:09:42,040 Number one and education. 143 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,360 Education, at eight years old. And the cousin went into the 144 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:48,750 house and said to the mother, you have so many children. Would 145 00:09:48,750 --> 00:09:51,750 you let me take Jimmy with me. He wants to go he wants to go to 146 00:09:51,750 --> 00:09:56,430 school. And that's how that happened and then went on and 147 00:09:56,460 --> 00:10:02,640 got through school. At 17 he arrives in Waterloo, and he had 148 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:07,290 a brother here. And his, he worked at John Deere. He worked 149 00:10:07,290 --> 00:10:10,710 at Rath he got involved. This is many years later, he got 150 00:10:10,710 --> 00:10:15,840 involved with the union looked around in the community. And 151 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:19,320 Jimmy was very active during the 60s and 70s. That's a whole 152 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:24,120 'nother story by itself. But he was a community person and a 153 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:29,250 community person who really took to heart the cares and concerns 154 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:33,450 of not only his own people, but of the human race, of people in 155 00:10:33,450 --> 00:10:36,720 general, humanity was important to him and how they were 156 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,780 treated, and how they were defined and how they were 157 00:10:39,780 --> 00:10:44,220 related to by the greater society. He wanted to make sure 158 00:10:44,430 --> 00:10:48,630 that African Americans had the same respect that other people 159 00:10:48,660 --> 00:10:49,050 had. 160 00:10:49,110 --> 00:10:53,520 That commitment began in 1948. When a 17 year old Jimmy Porter 161 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:54,690 arrived in Waterloo. 162 00:10:56,370 --> 00:10:59,520 I came to Waterloo from Mississippi, I was looking for 163 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:07,020 the promised land. I was disappointed because I found a 164 00:11:07,020 --> 00:11:12,180 land. But I discovered that the promise was even worse than 165 00:11:12,180 --> 00:11:19,110 where it came from. The thing that was shocked to me was how 166 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:26,370 well Waterloo had domesticated it's black people and it placed 167 00:11:26,370 --> 00:11:35,370 them in a role that was almost to me was insulting. And, and 168 00:11:35,370 --> 00:11:40,260 they had learned their place, and was living within that place 169 00:11:40,260 --> 00:11:45,210 that had been designated to them by white people in Waterloo. 170 00:11:46,620 --> 00:11:50,550 In 1954, Jimmy Porter was laid off from his job at John Deere 171 00:11:50,550 --> 00:11:54,240 company. From there, he went to work at Rath Packing House, 172 00:11:54,510 --> 00:11:58,680 where he became active in and later Vice President of the 173 00:11:58,680 --> 00:12:02,190 United Packinghouse Workers Union, a position he held until 174 00:12:02,190 --> 00:12:06,660 becoming a community enabler in 1968. In addition to being a 175 00:12:06,660 --> 00:12:11,220 union spokesman, Porter has also been a political activist. In 176 00:12:11,220 --> 00:12:15,900 1972, he was an Iowa delegate for George McGovern. Beyond 177 00:12:15,900 --> 00:12:19,440 those responsibilities, Porter's dedication has been to civil 178 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:23,070 rights, where he has had the vision to see the needs and the 179 00:12:23,070 --> 00:12:26,700 determination to find the solutions to problems plaguing 180 00:12:26,700 --> 00:12:27,450 blacks. 181 00:12:27,510 --> 00:12:33,930 But he becomes this super aware person in Waterloo, Iowa, and 182 00:12:33,930 --> 00:12:37,590 really taking in like taking snapshots of the community and 183 00:12:37,590 --> 00:12:42,090 seeing what was wrong. But I don't know where that, that 184 00:12:42,090 --> 00:12:45,210 whole energy really came from, 185 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,880 He had invitations to the White House that he actually went 186 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:51,000 there. And then the President who was President at that time. 187 00:12:52,230 --> 00:12:57,030 But to see that he, he said, when he came here, he found out 188 00:12:57,060 --> 00:12:59,580 he came here looking for the promised land, you probably 189 00:12:59,580 --> 00:13:04,410 heard Jimmy say that. And he didn't find it. And because of 190 00:13:04,410 --> 00:13:09,150 that, I think it turned him at that point where he was going to 191 00:13:09,150 --> 00:13:14,970 do everything that he could to make that happen. Not just for 192 00:13:14,970 --> 00:13:19,020 himself, but for his people and for other people as well. The 193 00:13:19,020 --> 00:13:25,200 vision for media, in the hands of African Americans is what he 194 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:31,500 was looking for. Thinking that a voice would give us a sense of 195 00:13:31,650 --> 00:13:35,940 achievement, a sense of empowerment, a sense of 196 00:13:35,970 --> 00:13:40,440 accomplishment. And certainly the empowerment was one of the 197 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:44,040 things that he was greatly interested in and felt like 198 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:48,150 through radio, we could begin to make that happen. 199 00:13:48,090 --> 00:13:52,626 At that time, radio was the central focus in most African 200 00:13:52,706 --> 00:13:57,481 American homes throughout the country. You know, radio was a 201 00:13:57,561 --> 00:14:02,416 part of the culture. You know, it was not only the music, but 202 00:14:02,495 --> 00:14:07,350 it was the dramas that were on radio, it was a source of news 203 00:14:07,430 --> 00:14:12,285 and in many cities, many folks had radio, but not necessarily 204 00:14:12,365 --> 00:14:17,379 television, he wanted blacks and that will African Americans to 205 00:14:17,458 --> 00:14:22,393 be taken seriously and not to be taken lightly. And he had the 206 00:14:22,472 --> 00:14:27,487 sense of social justice that he felt was not being demonstrated 207 00:14:27,566 --> 00:14:32,501 or or not being realized in the black community. So the radio, 208 00:14:32,580 --> 00:14:37,435 it also, it became almost like this Freedom Train saw that as 209 00:14:37,515 --> 00:14:42,450 being a liberator of people here in Waterloo, Iowa. It, have I 210 00:14:42,529 --> 00:14:46,350 captured that in a way and what did I leave out? 211 00:14:46,780 --> 00:14:51,640 You have captured it and I think the thing that made Jimmy feel 212 00:14:51,790 --> 00:14:57,430 so strongly about communications and what it could do for his 213 00:14:57,430 --> 00:15:03,970 people was, hHe was beginning to see something that he thought 214 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:10,030 would be very dangerous to us as an African American people. 215 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:14,740 We're looking at it every day, we're looking at killings. We're 216 00:15:14,740 --> 00:15:17,530 looking at assaults, we're looking at robberies, we're 217 00:15:17,530 --> 00:15:20,560 looking to add our young people dropping out of school, we're 218 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:25,570 looking at a lack of respect for our parents, for the women in 219 00:15:25,570 --> 00:15:30,490 our family that had begun to filter in through music, and 220 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:37,030 magazines and other. And Jimmy was saying, we can get ahead of 221 00:15:37,030 --> 00:15:40,960 this train. And if we don't, using communications and 222 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:44,290 bringing people in and discussing, and if we don't, his 223 00:15:44,290 --> 00:15:47,860 prediction was, if we don't, we would be where we are today. 224 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:54,714 I think going back to Cottage Street, and Jimmy somehow, 225 00:15:47,801 --> 00:15:52,235 He saw the social ills that were being manifest at the time, 226 00:15:52,309 --> 00:15:56,301 being linked to media, being linked directly to media, 227 00:15:54,852 --> 00:16:02,980 having the vision that one of the things that could help to 228 00:15:56,375 --> 00:16:00,588 through the images, and through the words and through the 229 00:16:00,662 --> 00:16:05,097 presentations that were going on. I want to step back before 230 00:16:03,117 --> 00:16:11,796 turn this train around would be through media and all that that 231 00:16:05,171 --> 00:16:09,384 KBBG, though, because his activism led him to this little 232 00:16:09,458 --> 00:16:13,523 house on Cottage Street. And let's not forget that part 233 00:16:11,934 --> 00:16:20,337 could mean it would mean jobs, it would be training, it would 234 00:16:13,597 --> 00:16:18,327 because that seems to be a link between his energy, his interest 235 00:16:18,401 --> 00:16:23,132 as a young man, his desire to do for the community. And then the 236 00:16:20,475 --> 00:16:29,154 be giving a voice it would be it would be saying to the greater 237 00:16:23,206 --> 00:16:27,345 establishment of KBBG, let's talk about, lest we forget, 238 00:16:27,419 --> 00:16:32,150 let's talk about Cottage Street, and his activism. What that led 239 00:16:29,292 --> 00:16:38,108 community, we are really not as different as it would appear, we 240 00:16:32,223 --> 00:16:36,215 him to do, you know, being passionate about, you know, 241 00:16:36,289 --> 00:16:40,428 what's going on is one thing, but how did Jimmy actually 242 00:16:38,246 --> 00:16:46,650 really have more in common, we can use this media in order to 243 00:16:40,502 --> 00:16:44,789 organize his thinking, to to actually take action, because 244 00:16:44,863 --> 00:16:47,820 Waterloo was a troubled city in the 60s. 245 00:16:46,787 --> 00:16:55,053 bridge that gap and come to the table and sit down. You know 246 00:16:50,330 --> 00:17:47,600 He had to become an organizer in many ways. And so I know in the 247 00:16:55,191 --> 00:17:03,870 when think of President Barack Obama, this man came into office 248 00:17:04,007 --> 00:17:12,824 talking about we've got to talk to people who previously we have 249 00:17:12,962 --> 00:17:21,227 not talked to. And so Jimmy is saying the same thing that we 250 00:17:21,365 --> 00:17:29,631 need to be able to sit down and talk with each other. And we 251 00:17:29,768 --> 00:17:38,172 could disagree. But we need to be able to put our concerns on 252 00:17:38,310 --> 00:17:47,540 the table and come with we've got to move from talking to solution. 253 00:17:48,110 --> 00:17:57,410 70s, there was a national movement across the country, you 254 00:17:57,410 --> 00:18:01,010 know, following the riots of the 60s, etc. Across the country. 255 00:18:01,670 --> 00:18:05,510 There were programs that started that were labeled Community 256 00:18:05,510 --> 00:18:09,440 Enablers. How did the Jimmy take part in that, or? 257 00:18:09,210 --> 00:18:13,611 May was a Community Enabler for 27 years until he retired, and 258 00:18:13,682 --> 00:18:18,084 the United Methodist Church and the United Presbyterian Church 259 00:18:18,155 --> 00:18:22,059 in the very, very beginning, were the ones who provided 260 00:18:22,130 --> 00:18:26,248 funds, and really just took it on Jimmy's word, because we 261 00:18:26,319 --> 00:18:30,437 didn't know anything about radio, and the people that were 262 00:18:30,507 --> 00:18:34,767 sitting around the table, that somehow Jimmy got to believe, 263 00:18:34,838 --> 00:18:39,240 you know, let's come together and see what, what we can do. He 264 00:18:39,311 --> 00:18:43,854 was always very, very active in the community. And I think it is 265 00:18:43,925 --> 00:18:48,256 because of where he started from that he saw injustice. Jimmy 266 00:18:48,327 --> 00:18:52,657 told me that at a very young age, he saw a person hung in the 267 00:18:52,728 --> 00:18:57,201 south. And I think it had great meaning to him and left a great 268 00:18:57,272 --> 00:19:01,816 impact on him about our justice system, for instance, the things 269 00:19:01,887 --> 00:19:05,933 that his mother had to go without to raise. There were 11 270 00:19:06,004 --> 00:19:10,264 boys, four of them, stillborn, just that whole thing that he 271 00:19:10,335 --> 00:19:14,736 came from and knowing that as an eight year old, that he could 272 00:19:14,807 --> 00:19:18,854 get out of this if he would follow a certain path. And he 273 00:19:18,925 --> 00:19:23,043 felt that if he could go to school and start his education 274 00:19:23,114 --> 00:19:27,231 that that would be and that's what led him step by step by 275 00:19:27,302 --> 00:19:31,207 step and that's the reason he was such a, so devoted to 276 00:19:31,278 --> 00:19:34,260 education. For children to have education. 277 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:37,240 You said that your backgrounds were very different, but I am 278 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:41,830 seeing some some stark similarities in that, your early 279 00:19:41,830 --> 00:19:45,280 upbringing certainly left you with words and ideas that 280 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:48,970 support you today and that inform your work today. Jimmy's 281 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:54,400 early upbringing certainly let left him with visions and ideas 282 00:19:54,430 --> 00:19:59,560 that informed his work. As he moved on to become a community 283 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:05,530 enabler or to be a uniter and then to move into getting a 284 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:09,610 radio station established in Waterloo, Iowa with his 285 00:20:09,610 --> 00:20:13,630 organizing work also take place, you know, or have any impact at 286 00:20:13,630 --> 00:20:14,650 Rath, at all? 287 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:19,130 The whole idea that you could bring a people together and at 288 00:20:19,130 --> 00:20:23,900 least they would bring enough hope that they would be willing 289 00:20:23,900 --> 00:20:28,220 to try this man's vision of a radio station and how it could 290 00:20:28,220 --> 00:20:31,730 be used not just for them, but for the future. He wasn't 291 00:20:31,730 --> 00:20:34,580 talking about starting something that would be gone in a year or 292 00:20:34,580 --> 00:20:37,190 five years or ten years. He's talking about wanting to 293 00:20:37,190 --> 00:20:41,960 establish an institution that will serve our people for the 294 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:43,010 rest of our lives. 295 00:20:43,070 --> 00:20:47,120 Now, Jimmy Porter, the man, the man from Mississippi, the great 296 00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:52,760 black giant, Papa Porter, to many Daddy Porter to others. Are 297 00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:58,940 there words that come to mind that really capture the essence 298 00:20:58,940 --> 00:21:03,950 of Jimmy Porter, if you had to say, this is the Jimmy Porter, I 299 00:21:03,950 --> 00:21:05,870 knew what would those words be? 300 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:13,430 Integrity. This man had such great integrity, you weren't 301 00:21:13,430 --> 00:21:16,190 going to buy him all paid off, you weren't going to tell him 302 00:21:16,190 --> 00:21:23,480 who he was. You weren't going to rearrange his thoughts to be 303 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:26,870 what you thought they should be. Which ties back into the radio 304 00:21:26,870 --> 00:21:31,730 station. Again, he is saying, have we not had enough of people 305 00:21:31,730 --> 00:21:35,660 telling us who we are, what we are, what we should say, when we 306 00:21:35,660 --> 00:21:40,100 should say it, how we should say it, we have had enough of that. 307 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:44,960 Radio is an idea whose time has come in this community. And he 308 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,080 intended to see it through. The people who sit around that 309 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:52,820 table, we're probably terrified. And even as I sat there, I was 310 00:21:52,820 --> 00:21:57,230 skeptical. And here this man, this, he was a born organizer, 311 00:21:58,070 --> 00:22:02,660 could put together, and he always said to people, it is us, 312 00:22:02,690 --> 00:22:07,940 we as a group, as a people, what we owe society, how can we be? 313 00:22:08,150 --> 00:22:12,560 How can we pick our place on the world stage? This is one of the 314 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:16,310 ways that we can do that, using this radio station. But because 315 00:22:16,310 --> 00:22:19,160 people had been burned so many times, they tried to have a 316 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:22,850 credit union, grocery store. I don't know what else. And so now 317 00:22:22,850 --> 00:22:26,030 here comes a guy that's really a nut. And he's talking about, if 318 00:22:26,030 --> 00:22:28,850 we fail in THIS, we'll have to live with it the rest of our 319 00:22:28,850 --> 00:22:29,300 lives. 320 00:22:29,450 --> 00:22:36,020 But I had the words integrity, drive, vision, passion and a 321 00:22:36,020 --> 00:22:43,040 sense of justice. Let's just focus on KBBG. KBBG's past, its 322 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:46,340 present. And then what we see in the future and when I talk about 323 00:22:46,340 --> 00:22:50,540 the past, we've got Jimmy Porter story and the passion that led 324 00:22:50,540 --> 00:22:55,220 him to actually found this station. And we've kind of 325 00:22:55,220 --> 00:22:59,240 talked a little bit about, you know, cottage street without 326 00:22:59,300 --> 00:23:04,280 letting people know, can you just give us a past history as 327 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:09,890 best you can, you know, in terms of KBBG FM Radio? 328 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:15,980 There is a timeline and and a timeframe in which all of this 329 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:21,260 happened. The radio station itself it took us a year the 330 00:23:21,260 --> 00:23:24,980 people who were involved took a year for us to find out what we 331 00:23:24,980 --> 00:23:29,480 were supposed to do. There was a gentleman back at that time by 332 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:34,010 the name of Charles Knox, who was very instrumental in writing 333 00:23:34,010 --> 00:23:39,200 grants. Jimmy, through his community enabler, was able to 334 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:45,110 move the whole idea forward because of his in his integrity. 335 00:23:45,980 --> 00:23:50,150 People believed in what Jimmy was was trying to accomplish. 336 00:23:50,390 --> 00:23:54,560 And even though we may have been a little reluctant, we said 337 00:23:54,620 --> 00:23:58,340 we're going to get on board and see what will happen. Greatest 338 00:23:58,340 --> 00:24:03,410 thing that happened during that period was the kind of growing 339 00:24:03,410 --> 00:24:07,400 up, it was kind of coming together. It was the community 340 00:24:07,850 --> 00:24:12,170 and Jimmy's vision, working hand in hand. And that had never 341 00:24:12,170 --> 00:24:16,280 really been done before. He was able, in spite of people who 342 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:20,600 might have had differences or whatever, they came on board and 343 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:23,480 started with 10 watts of power and you couldn't even hear us I 344 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:26,480 don't think and Cedar Falls or just maybe at the edge of Cedar 345 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:31,880 Falls. Went on later to become a 10,000 watt radio station. 346 00:24:32,050 --> 00:24:35,650 So you're saying that, Jimmy, another word we should add would 347 00:24:35,650 --> 00:24:39,910 be selfless. He was selfless in this because the issue of social 348 00:24:39,910 --> 00:24:44,290 justice was larger than he was. And so when you say we, you're 349 00:24:44,290 --> 00:24:45,880 speaking of people in general. 350 00:24:46,210 --> 00:24:51,970 All of that was part of Jimmy's being an organizer of Jimmy 351 00:24:51,970 --> 00:24:56,260 being able to see the big picture, of Jimmy working toward 352 00:24:56,290 --> 00:25:01,750 every day of his life. How can we empower ourselves? Not only 353 00:25:01,750 --> 00:25:04,990 benefit us, it will benefit our children, it will benefit our 354 00:25:04,990 --> 00:25:07,690 society, it will benefit the nation. 355 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:13,210 The task for Jimmy was to be able to actually convince people 356 00:25:13,510 --> 00:25:17,770 that this was something that could be done, he was a clear 357 00:25:17,770 --> 00:25:21,100 thinker, because if at eight years old, you know, what you 358 00:25:21,100 --> 00:25:24,970 need are three square meals a day and an education in order to 359 00:25:24,970 --> 00:25:29,530 get ahead, that particular awareness of needs, and 360 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:33,670 situations just kind of followed him right to his adult life 361 00:25:33,670 --> 00:25:38,110 here. So the past was the struggle to actually get the 362 00:25:38,110 --> 00:25:43,180 community to get on board with this particular idea. And then 363 00:25:43,180 --> 00:25:47,110 to find the people who could help him do this through grant 364 00:25:47,110 --> 00:25:52,060 writing, etc. Overcoming the notion that this will never 365 00:25:52,060 --> 00:25:56,680 work. It was in '77, when the radio station ultimately was 366 00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:00,820 able to get incorporated as a nonprofit, I think Afro American 367 00:26:00,820 --> 00:26:06,220 Community Broadcasting Inc., it was established in 1977. That's 368 00:26:06,310 --> 00:26:14,560 AACB, March 1, 1977. Got your 501 C3, approval to be a 369 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:20,950 nonprofit, okay to continue on Jimmy's effort to communicate, 370 00:26:21,100 --> 00:26:26,350 to educate, through public affairs programming, and also 371 00:26:26,350 --> 00:26:29,740 through the Minority Communications Training 372 00:26:29,950 --> 00:26:34,390 Institute that was established. So this little kernel of an idea 373 00:26:34,390 --> 00:26:39,970 that lured you almost from Washington, DC to Waterloo, in 374 00:26:39,970 --> 00:26:43,510 front of your very eyes were, was really coming to fruition, 375 00:26:43,810 --> 00:26:47,800 you could see this little kernel actually turning into a whole 376 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:50,440 piece of popcorn right in front of your very eyes. 377 00:26:50,360 --> 00:27:40,640 And it's going from Cottage Street to Newell Street. Yes. 378 00:26:50,430 --> 00:26:55,807 And there will be people that, too many to name, but that they 379 00:26:55,894 --> 00:27:01,185 know who they are. Who really saw and internalized that, yes, 380 00:27:01,272 --> 00:27:06,649 we we can do this, we really can do this. And I think the fact 381 00:27:06,736 --> 00:27:11,680 that we're sitting here today, and as you said earlier on 382 00:27:11,767 --> 00:27:16,364 sitting in the boardroom of KBBG, that his vision was 383 00:27:16,450 --> 00:27:21,655 correct. But Jimmy never wanted us to stop growing. He never 384 00:27:21,741 --> 00:27:27,293 wanted us to stop trying to get our youth to be involved for for 385 00:27:27,379 --> 00:27:32,757 training and for moving ahead in their educational life. Those 386 00:27:32,844 --> 00:27:35,880 were things that he held so dearly. 387 00:27:40,820 --> 00:27:44,810 Okay. Now, you said that the enabler was initially supported 388 00:27:44,810 --> 00:27:48,200 by the Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church, maybe the 389 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:52,790 Catholic, and later the Catholic Church came in. And then, of 390 00:27:52,790 --> 00:27:57,080 course, to make this movement to continue on. When did you guys 391 00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:59,870 first went on air, then from Cottage Street in '78? 392 00:28:01,230 --> 00:28:06,330 July 26, and, you know, we don't want to leave out our churches 393 00:28:06,330 --> 00:28:11,790 and our black community, who had been supportive for over the 394 00:28:11,790 --> 00:28:16,230 years. They were happy that now they had a another medium that 395 00:28:16,230 --> 00:28:23,220 they could, that they could talk to people, and about whatever 396 00:28:23,250 --> 00:28:26,610 the church was doing or plans that they were having that had 397 00:28:26,610 --> 00:28:30,780 to do with how well our community, how well it would be, 398 00:28:30,810 --> 00:28:34,590 how healthy it would be. I mean, we had all kinds of issues then, 399 00:28:34,890 --> 00:28:36,180 as we do now, 400 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:39,750 let's move to the present. I mean, we're off Cottage Street 401 00:28:39,780 --> 00:28:46,110 now. We went on the air, okay, we maintained, and the black 402 00:28:46,110 --> 00:28:49,860 churches and people in the community stepped up to continue 403 00:28:49,860 --> 00:28:54,930 to support KBBG, I said it was non-commercial. Talk about being 404 00:28:54,930 --> 00:28:56,670 non-commercial, what are the struggles ? 405 00:28:56,700 --> 00:29:01,230 Being non-commercial is a struggle, however, we had the 406 00:29:01,230 --> 00:29:05,580 sense to know that we would not be dealt with on the same level 407 00:29:05,790 --> 00:29:12,720 as a commercial station, or even as a white station and in terms 408 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:21,390 of ads, in terms of of being able to solicit at the same 409 00:29:21,390 --> 00:29:25,740 level that others we knew that others were being invested in 410 00:29:25,740 --> 00:29:30,450 and advertising was going on. So it has always been it's always 411 00:29:30,450 --> 00:29:31,110 been a struggle. 412 00:29:31,140 --> 00:29:35,820 Porter saw for the station being so significant for the black 413 00:29:35,820 --> 00:29:40,320 community. Did that voice it sometimes become a threat? For 414 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:41,340 the white community? 415 00:29:41,340 --> 00:29:45,591 Some? Yes, there would have been that at least they knew there 416 00:29:45,660 --> 00:29:49,774 was the possibility of a threat at the same time, though, by 417 00:29:49,842 --> 00:29:54,231 what we what we did, not by what we said. The community began to 418 00:29:54,300 --> 00:29:57,934 realize that what Jimmy was saying he was looking for 419 00:29:58,002 --> 00:30:01,980 bringing people together. Using the radio station to bring 420 00:30:02,048 --> 00:30:06,505 people together, not to separate them, he would say that river is 421 00:30:06,574 --> 00:30:10,825 what separates east and west, we can do something to eliminate 422 00:30:10,894 --> 00:30:15,214 that. We were being inclusive, the same thing we've been saying 423 00:30:15,282 --> 00:30:19,465 all along, saying to them, we need to be included, we want to 424 00:30:19,534 --> 00:30:23,511 be inclusive, we want you to have a voice, because we know 425 00:30:23,580 --> 00:30:27,694 what it is not to have a voice. You have had the monopoly on 426 00:30:27,762 --> 00:30:31,877 having a voice for all of these years, on everything that is 427 00:30:31,945 --> 00:30:35,785 media, you've written the stories of what you want them, 428 00:30:35,854 --> 00:30:39,968 you know, whatever it is that portrays us as who we are not, 429 00:30:40,037 --> 00:30:44,288 you had the power to make that happen. And now we need to turn 430 00:30:44,357 --> 00:30:48,060 that whole thing around by bringing sometimes the very 431 00:30:48,128 --> 00:30:52,105 people who were on the other side, who are now supporters, 432 00:30:52,174 --> 00:30:55,260 but it has taken it's been a long, hard road. 433 00:30:55,260 --> 00:31:00,998 Would you like to say anything, as we wind up and conclude our 434 00:31:01,091 --> 00:31:02,850 first conversation? 435 00:31:03,300 --> 00:31:07,359 We will continue on the road that we started out on, 436 00:31:07,437 --> 00:31:11,730 communicate, to educate. Our mission is to bring people 437 00:31:11,808 --> 00:31:16,882 together and to have the kind of information and programming that 438 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:21,722 goes out over these airwaves that will enable people. That is 439 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:26,796 the whole reason for the station coming into being. That, I know 440 00:31:26,874 --> 00:31:31,402 that that was Jimmy's vision and mine as well. We shared a 441 00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:35,539 passion for what we were involved in and continue to 442 00:31:35,617 --> 00:31:40,613 carry on. And we hope that there will be those that will help us 443 00:31:40,691 --> 00:31:41,550 to do that. 444 00:31:41,730 --> 00:31:46,007 Well, I tell you, Lou, from the color sing that you and Jimmy 445 00:31:46,077 --> 00:31:50,494 did to get me on the radio. And now I'm sitting here talking to 446 00:31:50,565 --> 00:31:54,912 you. I would like to say that as we go into the future. And as 447 00:31:54,982 --> 00:31:58,979 I've watched the station struggle to survive that anytime 448 00:31:59,049 --> 00:32:03,326 is the right time for people to support KBBG radio station so 449 00:32:03,396 --> 00:32:07,253 that you can continue to communicate, to educate. And I 450 00:32:07,323 --> 00:32:11,040 want to thank you for letting me talk with you today. 451 00:32:11,070 --> 00:32:12,210 And thank you very much