Chicago – and our friends and family from all over the country – you have spoken. You have written. You have tweeted — and once again your activism has made a difference in a big way! We are going back on the air, and if I could hug each and everyone of you individually, I would. Our new home in Chicago is SOUL 106.3FM, WSRB/WYRB.
I told you we would be back, but as badly as I wanted it to happen, I couldn’t do it by myself. I’m just one person with one voice. I needed all of you to do exactly what you did, which is to prove, once again, what we can do when we all work together.
Southside family and friends (and in most of Chicago), you will be able to hear us loudly and clearly on SOUL 106.3FM. If you’re having trouble receiving the station’s signal, you might want to listen to the show on BlackAmericaWeb.com’s audio stream. Hey, it’s only fair that the people who fought for us the hardest are able to hear us best. We do live in a democracy, after all!
Thousands upon thousands let the media know that you wanted us back. And it touched my heart to know you cared as much as you do. I felt the love and the sentiment everywhere I went. But more importantly, what you did reinforced how much power we have and what we can to do when we mobilize behind a cause we care about — the voice of black radio!
We appreciate some of inconveniences some you encountered to hear the TJMS. We thought we’d made it easy by letting you know you could listen to our stream on BlackAmericaWeb.com. But, well, everyone wasn’t able to listen on the net, as some of you have. For example, one woman called and said she couldn’t find the stream in Chicago; just the lake! And how about the man who was determined to hear the show in the car, so he put his laptop in his ride so he could listen on the Internet. It all went okay until he realized his cord would only get him to the end of the driveway.
One mom made her son listen on the web in his college dorm, write down the best stuff and fax it to her at her job. Now she’ll be able to listen to the show from home on Wednesday because she got fired for laughing too much at work! I forgot to mention she worked in a mortuary.
Now that we’re going to back on Chicago radio — SOUL 106.3FM, I need you to do a couple of things for me because the party with the purpose ain’t over; there’s still work to be done. First, I want you to tell all your friends, family and co-workers in Chicago that we’re back. Use the same energy and resources you used to voice your displeasure over us leaving, and let folks know where they can tune in Wednesday and pick up right where they left off with me, J., Sybil, Roland, Huggy, Sheryl and the entire TJMS crew. Secondly, I want you to give great BIG love to all of the people who advertise on our show. When you support them, you support us – and everybody wins.
Lastly, and this is the big one, I need you to take immediate action. So many of you told me you were willing to protest, boycott, sit-in, fight, move and a few things that were illegal to show your love for the TJMS But the best way for you and all of us to claim a victory is for you and everyone you know to make sure all of your radios are tuned to into SOUL 106.3FM this Wednesday morning – and every morning afterward – from 5 to 9 a.m. When we do this, we all are helping black radio thrive. Let’s show the world we’re not only here, but we are strong, we are empowered, and we are able to make things happen.
You did your part about letting everyone know you wanted us back, and we had to make some things happen too. We believed in the city of Chicago and our need to be there so much that we have made a major financial commitment in order to be on the radio there. We need you to listen to ensure we can continue to serve the Chicago community for the long term. Our success and survival depends on us having a team of listeners and a team of advertisers that believe in us and the community as strongly as you do.
We will be visiting Chicago in person soon to let you know how much we appreciate everything you did to lift up your voice so that we could still have a voice in the community. For those of you who have been listening to the show on BlackAmericaWeb.com, once we go back on the air, remember to continue to check us out via your computer whenever you’re away from a radio. And by all means, keep communicating with me on the blogs, texting us at OHOHOH (646464) or mingling with us on Facebook’s Tom Joyner fan page and Twitter. The more ways that we can reach out to each other, the stronger we can become, and the more assurance we’ll have that we can stand up to any force when we’re on the right side.
President Obama’s message of hope was more than words. His victory reminded us that we can make things happen not by sitting, not by talking, not by complaining but by doing something. Activism is a part of our heritage, and it hasn’t failed us yet. We refused to be silenced, we refused to be stopped, we kept moving forward and came out on top!
I will talk to you bright and early Wednesday morning at the new home of “The Tom Joyner Morning Show’s” party with a purpose – and that’s SOUL 106.3FM. The radio station and the victory belong to all of us, so let’s continue to demand good radio that entertains, excites, educates and empowers our community!
