♫♪♫♪♪♪-Oh, Oh, Oh…It’s the Tom Joyner Morning Show!!!-♫♪♫♪♪♪
The Hardest Working Man In Radio
Do you know anyone who isn’t familiar
with the famous radio jingle? For those of you who may have been sleeping under
a rock all these years I would like to introduce you to Tom Joyner, (Sr., that is) the famous fly jock whose morning show
syndicates over 120 radio stations throughout the country, with a positive focus on instilling unity and giving back to the
community. He has been involved in helping to end discrimination toward African
Americans and Hispanics in advertisement. He is also working toward raising health
awareness among African Americans with the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
Joyner was raised in Tuskegee, Alabama with
his father who served as a Tuskegee Airman, his mother, a secretary for the military and his brother. He graduated from Tuskegee University, earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology, which led to his
career in radio broadcasting at WRMA in Montgomery. During his time in radio
he’d worked various stations such as WLOK-AM in Memphis, KWK-AM in St. Louis, KKDA-FM in Dallas, and WJPC, WGCI, WVON,
and WBMX all based in Chicago. He had a way of bringing on a fresh, energetic
attitude of comedic and verve that had never before been experienced in the radio industry.
In the mid 1980’s, just shy of the closing
of Joyner’s contract, he was offered a morning position at KKDA in Dallas and an afternoon slot at WGCI in Chicago. Not able to make a definite decision, he decided to accept both offers with an extraordinary
plan to fly thousands of miles from Chicago to Dallas to work the morning show at KKDA and then back to Chicago for the afternoon
shift at WGCI. Not before long, while basically making his home in the friendly
skies, he earned the name of ‘The hardest Working Man in Radio…The Fly Jock’.
In 1994 holding great determination, nationwide
publicity for his creativeness to work as a disc jockey in two cities (on a daily basis) and gaining a whole lot of jetlag,
he convinced ABC Radio Networks to have his show syndicated. This brought on
the birth of a new “Tom Joyner Morning Show”, sending it soaring on a whole new level as it created the largest
audience of any other radio program.
The Tom Joyner Morning Show flows over numerous
airwaves of 120 radio stations throughout the country with over seven million listeners.
Tom’s goal was not just to entertain his listeners; he wanted to get them involved in making a difference. His plan is to get them laughing and then they will listen to what he has to say. Once they start to listen, they began to think and that’s when people began
to make a difference.
Joyner collaborated with Tavis Smiley to help
save items from the United States Slave Trade. Aware of the fact that the Holocaust
items were protected by the Christies International Auction House policy in New York, they were held for display only, while
the Slave Trade items was scheduled to be sold in an auction event. Sending messages
through the airwaves and any other way they knew how, Joyner and Smiley informed listeners to call up Christies International
Auction House and request the slave trade items be held from auctioning as well. The
Christies International’s phone lines flooded with callers demanding not to auction off parts of the African
American History. Not long after did the phone calls become so overwhelming that Christies International had no other choice
but to call off the auction.
The Tom Joyner Foundation not-for-profit program
began in 1997, with aims to support the African Americans students in continuing their education in African American colleges
and Universities. Throughout time, African American students are faced with financial
difficulties, which forces the doors to close on their education. The Tom Joyner
Foundation is designed to provide financial supplements to the Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). This purpose is to help the African American students complete their education. The foundation has raised more than $12 million dollars for this cause.
For more information on The Tom Joyner Foundation please visit http://www.tomjoyner.com/foundation/
Joyner is also the founder of the www.blackamericaweb.com founded in the summer of 2001 to encourage interaction between African Americans. The web site is a highly recommended source for the latest, credible news and views, ranging from black
business and commerce to the basic activities of daily life. The main goal is to mobilize the African-American community through
healthy information, thoughtful entertainment, and star-inspired empowerment.
(www.blackamericaweb.com)
Joyner’s success as a radio personality and philanthropist has earned him
many rewards. He was named person of the year by Savoy magazine in 2002, elected
into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1999, Impact’s magazine Joe Loris Award for Excellence in Broadcasting and Best DJ of
the Year award, which has been renamed the Tom Joyner award in his honors due to numerous winnings. He had also earned the Billboard’s Best Urban Contemporary Air Personality award for the fourth time. Other notable honors include the congressional Black Caucus' Mickey Leland Humanitarian
Award, 100 Black Men's Man of the Year award, the NAACP's President's Award, and the Harold Washington Award for his tireless
efforts in the Census 2002 campaign.(www.tomjoyner.com)
A well known pacesetter, Joyner resides in
Dallas with his lovely wife Donna Richardson who host the fitness program of NBC’s Later Today and Weekend Today shows,
his two sons, Thomas Jr., who serves as the chief executive officer of the Tom Joyner Foundation, and Oscar, who is the vice-chair
for Joyner’s BlackAmericaWeb.com.
