Comments (0) Best Radio Personality - 2012
Margaret Prescod
Few public-affairs programs on the dial rival the insightfulness of KPFK's Sojourner Truth Radio hosted by Margaret Prescod. The activist/host born in Barbados takes on the news of the day with critical perspectives offered by guests otherwise ignored by an increasingly consolidated media and, sadly, ever-lackluster public outlets. Following the show's opening snippet of Bob Marley's "One Love," Prescod begins to call out all that is bloody outrageous from around the block and across all borders. Her Friday roundtables offer end-of-the-week wrap-ups with such regularly featured luminaries as Dr. Gerald Horne, Tom Hayden and Jackie Goldberg. When her program enters fund-drive mode, Prescod takes on a measured introductory tone that builds up as the hour nears its end. In the mid-'80s, she began organizing in South Los Angeles against a serial killer of black women known as the Grim Sleeper, who was nabbed two summers ago after leaving an unfinished slice of pizza at Buena Park's John's Incredible Pizza Co., leading to DNA samples. When the subject matter weighs less on the soul, she's a rarity in that she's a public-radio host unafraid to actually let a sense of humor and some personality shine through the airwaves!
