Race is a “bitch” huh!
But this is the rub everybody White and non-White, I am "Jeffery" first. Always Jeffery first. When I wake up in the morning and look in the mirror. I see Jeffery looking back at me. Oh, Jeffery is “Black.” Okay. I like that too.
Interestingly, when I was a talk radio producer I was “Jeffery” too. This was during the late 70’s and throughout the 80’s, being the only Black (Oh Jeffery) in charge of radio broadcasts was impressive.
Hell. I attended the University of New Orleans they well prepared me to take on the responsibilities as a producer. Thank you May Jones, PhD in the Mass Communications Department UNO!
Let me explain here. It was my co-workers who would remind me I was "Black". I would say in my head “okay.” I would also think sometimes. What does that mean when they would say this to me? Oh, it meant I was in the tribe, you know . . .”Black”, if I was with Black co-workers. If I were with White co-workers. I would think. Are they trying to complement me, since there were so few “Black” talk radio producer? Hmm…. It was exhausting. I “Jeffery”, just wanted to do good talk radio.
Let me move on to how exhausting it was to be “Jeffery.” Oh. “Black Jeffery.”
It was over 35-years ago I use to produce a popular talk magazine show in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. "Mid-Day Magazine with Don Grady". I had to know everything to make this show work every weekday.
So, as we head into this weekend think about it everybody. Are we headed back to the 60's?
I used my mom's birth name during that time, "Jeff White" as the producer of the show. The Program Director, Dave Prince insisted the host of the show acknowledged on-air “Jeff White” produced the program. So, at the end of the two-hour broadcast every day the host of the show, would say, "Mid-Day Magazine is produced by Jeff White, Thank you Jeffery.” The host would occasionally talk to me in the control room, but like many producers, I would say "we" (producers) are not part of the on-air banter. As talk radio matured that changed. Every talk show host was talking to their producer on air with the producer responding.
