Tommy Jackson, Oral History
Files
Title
Tommy Jackson, Oral History
Description
Tommy Jackson (b. Nov 18, 1946) - During his part time radio announcer stint at WJLD 1400 AM in the 1970's. Tommy also taught at Ullman High School and at Miles College. Here, he reflects briefly on various colleagues at WJLD radio, in particular, Jimmy Lawson and Willie McKinstry.
Creator
Tommy Jackson
Bob Friedman
Publisher
Birmingham Black Radio Museum
Date
December 29, 2005
Contributor
Jeff Hirschy
Emily Bibb
Format
PDF
MP3
JPG
Language
English
Interviewer
Bob Friedman
Interviewee
Tommy Jackson
Transcription
Transcript of audio snippet:
Bob Friedman: Hmmmm, of course this is the best picture of Jimmy……
Tommy Jackson: Oh yeah...Jimmy Lawson
Bob: Eh hmmm, he looks like a little stinker...
Tommy: He was a hell of a disc jockey. Yeah, and I remember when they had that Sound Off... He was the first one with that talk radio.
Bob: Eh hmmm. Do you remember what year that was?
Tommy: Ahh, Sound Off, it should have been in the early 70’s.
Bob: It was.
Tommy: uh huh.
Bob: Well back then, there was nobody Black on the city council, Arrington had not gotten elected yet, what did he talk about as a talk show host?
Tommy: Well, he would talk about the issues that were going on in Birmingham. And and…
Bob: He talk about the Vietnam War?
Tommy: Well, he talked about the Vietnam War plus he had been in the military too.
Bob: hmm
Tommy: Jimmy was a First Lieutenant when he came back here……
Bob: hmm
Tommy: And he would talk about the situation with Birmingham because Birmingham wasn't the best city to be in back in those days because we had Blacks getting killed by policemen every week and all of it was justificable homicide.
Bob: hmm
Tommy: And basically and mainly we didn’t have nothing you know like voter registration, ah, we talked about integration and all this kind of stuff you know and equal opportunity for peoples. That was mainly his conversation and he didn’t hold anything back….
Bob: Did he ever get in any trouble with the authorities?
Tommy: No, I don’t think Jimmy ever got into any trouble with the authorities because Jimmy was a little arrogant himself. He really didn’t hold nothing back.
Bob: hmm
Tommy: He didn’t hold back nothing on management, or anything. Jimmy Lawson was just Jimmy Lawson but he’s a real good friend of mine. We came through high school together. I think he got out of high school ah in 62 and I got out in 64.
Bob Friedman: Hmmmm, of course this is the best picture of Jimmy……
Tommy Jackson: Oh yeah...Jimmy Lawson
Bob: Eh hmmm, he looks like a little stinker...
Tommy: He was a hell of a disc jockey. Yeah, and I remember when they had that Sound Off... He was the first one with that talk radio.
Bob: Eh hmmm. Do you remember what year that was?
Tommy: Ahh, Sound Off, it should have been in the early 70’s.
Bob: It was.
Tommy: uh huh.
Bob: Well back then, there was nobody Black on the city council, Arrington had not gotten elected yet, what did he talk about as a talk show host?
Tommy: Well, he would talk about the issues that were going on in Birmingham. And and…
Bob: He talk about the Vietnam War?
Tommy: Well, he talked about the Vietnam War plus he had been in the military too.
Bob: hmm
Tommy: Jimmy was a First Lieutenant when he came back here……
Bob: hmm
Tommy: And he would talk about the situation with Birmingham because Birmingham wasn't the best city to be in back in those days because we had Blacks getting killed by policemen every week and all of it was justificable homicide.
Bob: hmm
Tommy: And basically and mainly we didn’t have nothing you know like voter registration, ah, we talked about integration and all this kind of stuff you know and equal opportunity for peoples. That was mainly his conversation and he didn’t hold anything back….
Bob: Did he ever get in any trouble with the authorities?
Tommy: No, I don’t think Jimmy ever got into any trouble with the authorities because Jimmy was a little arrogant himself. He really didn’t hold nothing back.
Bob: hmm
Tommy: He didn’t hold back nothing on management, or anything. Jimmy Lawson was just Jimmy Lawson but he’s a real good friend of mine. We came through high school together. I think he got out of high school ah in 62 and I got out in 64.
Duration
Full Interview: 24 minutes
Audio snippet: 2 minutes
Audio snippet: 2 minutes
Collection
Citation
Tommy Jackson and Bob Friedman, “Tommy Jackson, Oral History,” The Birmingham Black Radio Museum, accessed March 29, 2023, https://www.thebbrm.org/item/535.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.
We welcome your comments! Please do not include private or sensitive information as your comment will be made public. BBRM will keep your email on hand so that we can stay in touch with future plans and programs of the BBRM.