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momiorea me nans.Silenced By Black Coalition(Continued from Pago 1A)Caucus, the Inner City Church Council, the Hough Area Council and other community based organizations,which have been referred to as black militants” by other media, persuaded air personnel to leave their stations.The station closed down Wednesday at 3:45 p.m. and remained off the air throughThursday.Broadcasting resumed Friday, when the station useda white employee, Mike Dix, also known as Dick Michaels, and Mike St. James to put the station back on the air, which he did with the aid of two employees of WXEN which is also owned by Booth, and shares quarters with WABQ.The black employees returned to the station, and broadcasting resumed until Saturday when it was temporarily shutdown again.Black employees, however, agreed to return to the air as an indication of good faith, until the meetings scheduled for Monday and Thursday.During the Saturday meeting the coalition dropped its demand for the firingof Sam Knight, who alternately is referred to as Station Manager or Sales Manager by the stationmanagement.Knight called the demand for his ouster a misunderstanding.”Disc jockey Jim Stephens confirmed this, adding “the man was playing one of us against the other.”He would tell one of us one thing and another one of us another thing, while he stood back and played referee, we checkmated himthough.Gordon Stenbeck, who currently heads the station, was present at the Saturday meeting, although coalition had said it would not negotiate as long as he was retained.The theme of the meeting was apparently for the coalition to make perfectly clear its demands.Alloting time for the management to evaluate all demands, the two parties agreed to meet on Monday.The management operates the station in such a manner that it is detrimental to the Black community, and general unity of staff members as well, Diablo said. How can you propagate unity when there is no unity within.”A source reveals that disc jockeys were chastised in their roles, and received re-ponsibilities and tasks that were not commensurate with •their abilities and Black awareness.The station no longer has one constructive Black program such as a talk show, in that it would be useful in informing the Black communityof adversities around them, among other things.It is reported that Black record companies no longer frequent the station because of its oldie, but goodie policy, negating the need for the new more informative and Black oriented soul records.This station appears to have adopted the age-old white concept that all N— want to do is dance, Diablo said.While drugs, rape, murder and all sorts of crimes andaggravated problems fester inthe Black community, this station plays oldies, but goodies This station represents an affront to the entire Black community.”The music policy of the station has come under heavy fire from the coalition who claims the station fails to play many records until they have ceased to become hits.Two weeks ago,” a member of the coalition stated, the station didn't play The Jonses,' by S.O.U.L. whichwas the top selling record locally.They also didn’t play Smokey Robinson’s, / am, Iam.The spokesman also said the station didn’t play current records by Lamont Dozier, the Ohio Players, La Belle, Bitty Preston, Ramsey Lewis,the Chilites, the Manhattans and WABQ failed to play Bobby Blue Bland’s new record until 12 weeks after it had been placed into distribution.”Although all of the artists were listed on the station’s play list none of the records were going over the air.WABQ’s Music Director J.L. Wright rejected responsibility for what went out over the air saying his was a title and not a fact.He said inquiries about records programmed on the station should be directed to a music consultant firm in Baltimore, Md., which decided what would be played in Cleveland.Annette Butler, representing WABQ at the time, had said prior to the Saturday meeting, we're really hoping to resolve this matter.” Apparently they have some valid demands. We plan no action against them.” However, at the Monday meeting WABQ and the Booth Broadcasting Company (BBC), the owner of the station, were being represented by another attorney.The attorney, Deane Buchanan, of Rogers, Horton and Forbes, informed the coalition that a restraining order had been filed.A temporary restraining order was iater issued by Common Pleas Court, limitina thecoalition in it s actions against the station.The temporary order will expire in 14 days, but the station could reportedly file for an injunction against the coalition which could last indefinitely.The vice-president of BBC, Walter Wesman, came from Detroit to attend the Mondaymeeting, and the only thing resolved was for the two sides to hold another meeting on Thursday.The management again said it needed time to evaluate the demands, and Buchanan stated that replies to the demands would be ready, and in writing by that time.The coalition’s demandsnow include an outline for daily programming, content, and for a present employee of WABQ to be promoted to general manager.They demanded the immediate dismissal of Mike Dixfrom WABQ, “for his part in announcing a blatantly misleading statement to the Black community, last Friday.“For the sake of unity I will go along with the brothers’ decision to wait. I resent white folks coming into Black neighborhoods trying to be divisive,” Diablo said.It was at this point that Buchanan informed the coalition that a restraining order had been filed, and was pending.Diablo called it a legal threat, which would not make any difference after Thursday, if the demands are not complied with.J.L. Wright, music director at WABQ and spokesman for the disc jockeys said, “the FCC license to this station, not only asks, but demands us to be a viable, and relevant service to that community which we serve, if not, nearly anyone can legally have this station stripped of it s license.”REV. ERNEST MeKMNEYGodfearingpassed by council last July after years of futile attempts by various councilmen. The bill, which outlawed the sale of the controversial gun, was vetoed by Mayor Ralph Perk who was campaigning for U.S. Senate at the time. Another bill has been brought to council for consideration this month which would require a mandatory minimum sentence for anyone found carrying such a gun. It remains to be seen if that will become a local statute.Funeral services for McKinney are scheduled for Friday, January 31, at Providence Baptist Church, 12712 Kinsman, at 1 p.m. He will be buried in the place of his birth, Macon, Georgia. He is survived by his wife, Emma, three brothers, Howard McKinney, of Macon, Ga.; Edward McKinney, of Brockport, N.Y., Willie McKinney of Philadelphia, Pa. and a sister, Annie McKinney of Cleveland.
Newspaper Details
Call and Post
Cleveland, Ohio, US
Sat, Feb 01, 1975
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Nathan O.
OH, USA 14 Jan 2022
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