Today, the Living Legends Foundation pays tribute to the Black radio station owners who helped define & elevate the culture. This is part 1 of 6.
Known in political circles as the “Harlem Clubhouse,” the coalition popularly called the Gang of Four reshaped New York’s civic and cultural landscape. Its members—David Dinkins, Basil Patterson, Charles Rangel, and Percy Sutton—rose from Harlem’s political base to the highest levels of city, state, and national leadership. Together, they built not only electoral power but enduring economic and media influence.
Percy Sutton’s career embodied that dual legacy of politics and enterprise. A New York State Assemblyman and later Manhattan Borough President from 1966 to 1977, Sutton understood that ownership mattered as much as office. In 1972, he purchased WLIB-AM, later acquiring WBLS-FM and expanding through Inner City Broadcasting into a national force. At its height, Inner City’s portfolio stretched from KBLX in San Francisco to KGFJ/KUTE in Los Angeles, WHAT in Philadelphia, KSJL in San Antonio, WSRF in Miami, WLBS in Detroit, and additional properties across Mississippi, Indiana, and South Carolina. Sutton also helped rescue and restore Harlem’s cultural crown jewel, the Apollo Theater, serving as co-producer of the syndicated television series Showtime at the Apollo. In 2024, his trailblazing contributions were recognized with induction into the Radio Hall of Fame.
In Chicago, Tom Lewis forged a similar path of financial and media empowerment. As founder and president of South Side Bank and head of Inter-Urban Broadcasting, Lewis built institutions that served Black communities often overlooked by mainstream lenders and broadcasters. His ownership of WYLD AM/FM in New Orleans made the station a dominant R&B voice throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1993, WYLD was sold to Clear Channel Communications—now known as iHeartMedia—marking the end of an era of independent Black ownership in that market.
A Harvard-trained attorney, Ragan Henry constructed one of the largest Black-owned media empires of the 1990s. Beginning with the acquisition of WAOK-AM in Atlanta, Henry expanded to own more than 60 radio and television stations at the height of his career. His holdings included WWDB, WRDW-FM, and WHAT in Philadelphia; WWIN AM/FM in Baltimore; and WOKV-AM and WAIV-FM in Jacksonville, Florida. In 2003, the University of Maryland’s Library of American Broadcasting named him among its First Fifty Giants of Broadcasting, placing him alongside industry legends such as Paul Harvey, Edward R. Murrow, Arthur Godfrey, and William S. Paley.
Entrepreneur Russell Perry entered broadcasting in 1993 with the purchase of AM 1140 in Oklahoma City—now known as KRMP. At its peak, Perry Broadcasting owned roughly 20 stations across Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Georgia. Perry also published The Black Chronicle, extending his reach beyond the airwaves into print journalism. In April 2025, the Oklahoma Senate honored him through Senate Resolution 13, recognizing his contributions as a businessman, banker, and journalist whose work shaped the state’s civic and media landscape.
From Harlem’s corridors of government to radio towers across the nation, they carved out platforms that amplified Black voices and built institutions designed to endure.
If you have memories of these leaders, please add them in the comments.
#VoiceOfThePeople #BlackHistory #LivingLegends #BlackRadio #LLF #BlackHistoryMonth