Soar On, Black Eagle
We are better because of Joe Madison. We all would do well to take a page out of his book and answer with action his question about what “we’re going to do about it”.
Let me start by saying I did not know Joe Madison, nor did I ever meet him, although I wish I had.
So I am not going to be so presumptuous as to make this a fraudulent attempt at an encomium to him as if I just lost a friend with whom I shared memories.
As an activist, though, who started writing about politics because of progressive icons like Mr. Madison, I would feel remiss if I didn’t take a few minutes to reflect on his influence and how he deserves to be included in the pantheon of civil rights leaders we revere.
Joe Madison, aka “The Black Eagle,” passed away Wednesday at age 74 after a prolonged struggle with prostate cancer.
https://twitter.com/UrbanViewRadio/status/1753190002454929698
Like many, I became familiar with him through his show on the SiriusXM Urban View channel, which ran for four hours, 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., every day, Monday through Friday.
My 50-minute drives to work in the morning are sacred to me; being a “news junkie,” they are when I catch up on news and policy discussions.
I don’t want gimmicks.
No frills.
No contests.
No sports.
I don’t care who won the basketball game the night before, which teams are in the Super Bowl, nor how many chicken wings someone will eat to win a new car.
When I tuned into Joe Madison, I could count on getting a detailed analysis, not just commentary, of the most important stories, many of which the for-profit corporate cable media was ignoring.
But I was also getting something else I couldn’t from most other media personalities: a lifetime of progressive activism fueling a desire to motivate others like me to get off the sidelines and be the change they wanted to see.
When Mr. Madison asked his callers phoning in with complaints and grievances the question “What are you going to do about it?”, he wasn’t being sarcastic, snarky, or dismissive of their concerns. It was a call to action: Don’t sit here calling a radio talk show. Get up, get out, and do something to improve the situation.
That’s what an activist does.
Mr. Madison challenged listeners to join him in the indefatigable fight for a better country and world.
https://twitter.com/VP/status/1753253715207676089
And he would know.
At age 24, he became the Detroit chapter of the NAACP’s youngest leader, eventually being promoted to National Political Director, serving on the National Board of Directors for 14 years.
He served on the American Red Cross Board of Governors, for which he was awarded the Harriman Award for Distinguished Volunteer Service, the organization’s most prestigious recognition of volunteer service.
In 2008, he, fellow activist and progressive radio talk show host Thom Hartmann, and several other talk show hosts traveled to the Darfur region of South Sudan to deliver “Sacks of Hope” and raise awareness of Sudanese Refugees.
He pushed every day for Congress to pass an anti-lynching bill, and in 2022, was in the room on Capitol Hill when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi certified the “Emmett Till Anti-lynching Act” that went to President Biden to sign.
https://twitter.com/claycane/status/1753194669431763331
Embodying his slogan that “the difference between a moment and a movement is sacrifice,” in 2021, Mr. Madison engaged in a 73-day hunger strike in which he refused to eat solid food to urge congressional lawmakers to pass the Freedom to Vote Act or the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Announcing the strike on the air, Madison said:
Just as food is essential for the existence of life, voting is essential for the existence of democracy.
On Thom Hartmann’s program, Mr. Madison added:
Joe Biden wouldn’t have been able to sign that landmark [infrastructure] bill... We put that pen in his hand. And so, he owes us. One of the things people should understand is that Putin and the Chinese are loving this. They’re hoping that these [voting rights] bills don’t pass.
When he decided to end it, he explained:
People will ask, “Was the 70+ days of my hunger strike worth the effort?” The answer is, yes. Today an entire generation now knows more about the Senate filibuster. They now know more about how their vote or their votes are. They now know the major differences between Republicans and Democrats. They now know that our democracy is fragile. They also now know that just as how food is essential to maintaining life, the right to vote is essential to maintaining our democracy.
It wasn’t his first hunger strike either. In 1996, he and the late comedian and social critic Dick Gregory engaged in one to force legislation to declassify documents about CIA complicity in cocaine smuggling into the United States.
He holds a Guinness World Record for “the Longest Marathon Hosting a Radio Talk Show” when he broadcasted for 52 uninterrupted hours to raise money for the Smithsonian African American History and Culture Museum.
In 2019, he was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame, and in 2021 Xlibris published his memoir Radio Active: A Memoir of Advocacy in Action, on the Air and in the Streets.
Over the years I have found myself incorporating Mr. Madison’s slogans into my teaching. I urge students to “listen with the third ear and read with the third eye” as I try my best to “put it where the goats can get it.”
Joe Madison was a hero, an icon, an exemplar. I will miss his passionate outbursts that often to led to contributions to his “cuss jar.” It was that passion that fueled his life and work.
We are better because of Joe Madison.
We all would do well to take a page out of his book and answer with action his question about what “we’re going to do about it”.
Thank you Ted for telling us about an inspiring human being! Better than another article about Trump and the sad lot of Republicans in our Congress. I’m all in with activists and we know Democracy is an action…just like love. I didn’t know about Joe but he’s now part of my ongoing tapestry of inspiration to call upon when I get weary.