Hungry for More About Africa Part 7
Harry Belafonte (right), and WLIB”s news director George Goodman, interviewing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at WLIB radio in New York York City, 1957
I grew up in a home listening to popular African artists on the family record player, influencing me in profound ways. Hugh Maskela, Fela, Mariam Makeba, and diasporic artists whose music has been informed by Africa, such as Mongo Santa Maria, Harry Belafonte, and Bob Marley. The music of these artists had been the soundtrack of my childhood home. In addition, progressive radio stations like New York's WLIB AM and WBAI FM produced episodes that listeners informed about African and African American history and current events. One could and did listen to informative interviews with activist and authors in the know. Local community radio stations served as directories for area programs. My mother in particular took her children to hear speakers and see artists performing work centered on Africa at high schools, colleges, public libraries, community centers, and museums. What I described above is how I developed a curiosity about Africa.