The Living Legends Foundation Pays Tribute

The Living Legends Foundation pays tribute to the Black radio station owners who helped define & elevate the culture. Percy Sutton’s career embodied the dual legacy of politics and enterprise. A New York State Assemblyman & Manhattan Borough President, Sutton understood that ownership mattered as much as office. In 1972, he purchased WLIB-AM, later acquiring WBLS-FM & expanding through Inner City Broadcasting. At its height, Inner City’s portfolio stretched from KBLX in San Francisco to KGFJ/KUTE in Los Angeles, WHAT in Philadelphia, KSJL in San Antonio, WSRF in Miami, WLBS in Detroit & additional properties across Mississippi, Indiana, and South Carolina. Sutton also helped rescue and restore Harlem’s cultural crown jewel, the Apollo Theater.

In Chicago, Tom Lewis forged a similar path of financial and media empowerment. As founder and president of South Side Bank and head of Inter-Urban Broadcasting, Lewis built institutions that served Black communities often overlooked by mainstream lenders and broadcasters. His ownership of WYLD AM/FM in New Orleans made the station a dominant R&B voice throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1993, WYLD was sold to Clear Channel Communications—now known as iHeartMedia—marking the end of an era of independent Black ownership in that market.

A Harvard-trained attorney, Ragan Henry constructed one of the largest Black-owned media empires of the 1990s. Beginning with the acquisition of WAOK-AM in Atlanta, Henry expanded to own more than 60 radio and television stations at the height of his career. His holdings included WWDB, WRDW-FM & WHAT in Philadelphia; WWIN AM/FM in Baltimore; & WOKV-AM & WAIV-FM in Jacksonville.

Russell Perry entered broadcasting in 1993 with the purchase of AM 1140 in Oklahoma City. At its peak, Perry Broadcasting owned roughly 20 stations across Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Georgia. Perry also published The Black Chronicle, extending his reach beyond the airwaves into print journalism.