Before there was Black Power 96 Radio, before there were playlists, podcasts, livestreams, and voices traveling across the airwaves, there was a promise.
A promise that Black people would never again be silenced in the very communities we built.
In 1975, history shifted in Detroit, Michigan, when WGPR-TV went on air. It was the first Black-owned and Black-operated television station in the United States, founded by William V. Banks. But long before that televised moment, Black-owned radio transmitters were already doing sacred work—quietly, powerfully broadcasting truth, music, politics, culture and survival into black homes.
Those early transmitters were not just machines. They were freedom tools.
They carried Civil Rights Movement updates, local organizing calls, Black music ignored by mainstream radio and announcements of all the Black joy, grief, protest and celebration.
The transmitter was the heartbeat. Without it, there was no voice.
Black Power 96 Radio: Built on history, tested by struggle
Black Power 96 Radio was born as a project of the African People’s Education and Defense Fund (APEDF)–coming from that same lineage of putting the people before profit. From legal battles to funding denials, from technical barriers to systemic resistance, Black Power 96 Radio has survived what many stations never could.
We stayed on air when we were told we shouldn’t. We kept broadcasting when the doors closed. We showed up when silence would have been easier.
Because Black Power 96 is not just a radio station.
Black Power 96 Radio is a living archive of Black thought. Black Power 96 is a megaphone for local voices. Black Power 96 is a refuge for truth-telling. Black Power 96 is a cultural classroom. Black Power 96 is the Black community’s town square.
Why the transmitter matters right now
The transmitter is not “equipment.” The transmitter is legacy.
It is the physical bridge between our voices and the people who need to hear them – the elders without streaming apps, the workers driving long shifts, the families gathering around familiar sounds, the youth discovering themselves through sound and story.
Without a reliable transmitter Black voices fade, community narratives disappear, and in true form the colonial powers allow corporate radio to fill the silence.
This February Fund Drive is about keeping our word.
We promised the people that Black radio would remain by us, for us, and most importantly, the change for us.
The February Fund Drive: Reclaiming the signal
This month, Black Power 96 Radio is calling on the community not as donors, but as co-owners of the voice. This is your station.
Our goal is clear: Secure and strengthen the transmitter that carries Black Power 96 Radio into homes, hearts and history.
Throughout the drive, we will host special all-programmers broadcasts, live reflections on Black radio history, community shout-outs and testimonies and on-air storytelling about why Black Power 96 Radio matters.
Every contribution is an act of resistance. Every dollar is a declaration: We will not be erased.
This is bigger than radio
Black radio has always been where movements were born. Where artists were first heard. Where truth slipped past censorship. Where the community spoke to itself, unfiltered.
The transmitter is how we keep that tradition alive.
This February, we ask you to stand with us, not just to fund equipment, but to protect a promise made decades ago when black voices first claimed the air.
Because when Black Power 96 Radio stays on air, the community stays heard.
This is our signal. This is our history to explain. For the future, Black Power 96 Radio is our voice of change.
Contribute to the February Fund Drive goal of $12,000 to fund a new transmitter and operating expenses for Black Power 96. Give now »
