The recent passing of historian and Egyptologist Josef ben-Jochannan caused me to wonder what became of Pepsi Charles, a former host and producer at WBAI, the Pacifica listener-supported station in New York. It was on her show that I first heard Dr. ben-Jochannan. I later interviewed him for a class assignment in 1975 when I took an evening course in magazine writing at Hunter College.
In December of that year, I did a one-hour program called "Langston Hughes: The Man and the Writer" for Pepsi Charles' weekly radio show. The guests I invited to speak on Hughes were Raoul Abdul, a former Hughes editorial assistant and at the time a music columnist for the New York Amsterdam News and Milton Meltzer, a friend of Hughes and a biographer. I was supposed to get a copy of the tape but, alas, she never provided one to me.
Doing a Google search, I learned that Pepsi Charles, a resident and community activist in Plainfield, New Jersey, died in 2002.
The Plaintalker II, a hyperlocal blog about Plainfield, in a March 12, 2009 post, had this to say about her: "Pepsi's interests and concerns ranged from cultural advancement of the community, recognition of African history and symbolism, the needs of urban youth, appreciation of all the arts and a deep spirituality that was an example to her friends and acquaintances."
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I was on her show to and we becae friends afterwards Anthony chauncey on FB filmmaker musician
ReplyDeletePepsi was my Professor of Radio @ Livingston College, Rutgers University in the mid seventies. She inspiring, refreshing and community first. RIP Pepsi.
ReplyDeletePepsi helped implement Plainfield's DOJ funded Community Oriented Policing Program,in the poorer parts of Plainfield, through the Div. of Recreation, and helped many Plainfield youths better interact with Plainfield Police, while infusing art, afro-centric culture, life-skills(psychological counseling), art, dance, swimming. Some of those kids are police, and firemen today!....one word that Pepsi passed on was RECIPROCITY.
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