HBCU Radio Preservation Project
Donald Baker explores the history of radio stations in North Carolina, the creation of WNCU, the value of self-expression, production projects, and more!
Happy Wednesday! Enjoy this edition of the HBCU Radio Preservation Project. As a collaborator in the project, the Margaret Walker Center is serving as a repository for the histories of HBCU stations and the community members who have been a part of them.
This week, meet Donald Baker, who was at the forefront of the idea to have a radio station at North Carolina Central University and helped bring that idea to fruition! Born in New York City, Donald calls himself a “child of the Great Migration,” as much of his family is from North Carolina. He reflects on growing up in an area that was known as Spanish Harlem, playing games with childhood friends, dancing, and listening to jazz while imagining how he would sound on the radio. In order to focus on his studies and pursue educational opportunities, Donald decided to complete his final year of high school in North Carolina, after which he chose to attend NCCU.
Donald discusses finding his own style and means of self expression during high school, noting how things like clothing and appearance can become forms of resilience. He recalls the vibrancy of university traditions like Homecoming, and how those traditions also provide opportunities for expression. While at NCCU, Donald worked at Wave Africa, the first public, Black-run community radio station, where he became a production manager and announcer. He adds that the main reason for creating the WNCU station was to give the university a public voice in a way that, as with Wave Africa, gave people agency over their own stories. Donald also talks about co-producing an award-winning audio series of children’s books. In addition to on-air work and production, Donald has also worked as an education and training specialist, creating workshops for professional development.
There’s much more to hear, so click on the video below!
About the Project
Each Wednesday, tune into our YouTube channel, @mwalkercenter, to catch a new oral history from the HBCU Radio Preservation Project!
We are proud to partner with several organizations for the HBCU Radio Preservation Project, which is dedicated to honoring and preserving the rich history and cultural resource of HBCU radio.
Here’s some more info from their website:
Much of the material created at these stations is at risk of being lost, though they document the rich history and diversity of the Black experience through the Civil Rights era and beyond. The goals are to preserve the stations’ audio collections and to foster a community of sustainability for the stations and institutional archives on campus.
The project provides preservation training and workshops for campus stations, archivists and community members, recruiting HBCU graduates as interns and fellows.
Field archivists will collaborate with stations and campus archivists on collections assessments and follow-up field services such as inventories, reformatting, rehousing, and other preservation activities.
Oral historians will interview a range of community members to document the history of the stations. Training in gathering oral histories and using historical audio in content creation will also be offered. Other goals include launching an interactive website, a podcast series, and annual symposia.
