[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 46 (Thursday, March 14, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1891-S1892]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO CLIFF KELLEY

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, in 1963, Leonard and Phil Chess, brothers 
and

[[Page S1892]]

owners of the legendary Chess Records, bought WHFC-AM 1450 with the 
goal of promoting their company. They renamed the station WVON--Voice 
of the Negro. This tiny station with just 1,000 watts of power became a 
broadcast hit, giving a voice to marginalized communities in the 
Chicagoland area. Much of their airwaves were filled with music, but 
politics wasn't far behind.
  WVON hosted legends like Robert Kennedy, Jackie Robinson, and 
Reverend Martin Luther King. King used this station as his bully pulpit 
to organize around housing and job discrimination. It was Reverend 
Jesse Jackson that called into the station to report of King's 
assassination. When riots happened on Chicago's West Side, it was the 
disc jockeys of WVON that went out with loudspeakers on trucks to calm 
things down. WVON is a station of history and eventually became more 
than the Voice of the Negro, it became the Voice of the Nation.
  For the last 25 years, my friend Cliff Kelley has been a true voice 
of the Nation as host on WVON. He has been the ``Governor of Talk 
Radio'' and formed a bond with listeners that is rare. At the end of 
this month, he will be stepping down from his daily show, but he will 
continue hosting his weekly American Heroes show for veterans. Cliff 
will serve as a community ambassador and a regular fill-in host.
  Cliff is a native of Chicago's South Side and a graduate of Englewood 
High School, Roosevelt University, and John Marshall Law School. Before 
hosting his show, Cliff served 16 years as a former 20th Ward Chicago 
alderman. He championed racial equality, was an elected school board 
member, and a pioneer for LGBTQ rights. He fought for LGBTQ rights long 
before it was popular.
  Cliff continued as a voice of conscience and community as well as a 
radio personality. He covered stories that weren't in the papers. His 
show helped launch countless people's careers, including Senators, 
Governors, congressmen, business leaders, and a President. A former 
colleague you may remember guest hosted his show quite a few times when 
Cliff went on vacation. He was a State Senator at the time, but Barack 
Obama always had time for Cliff's show as a guest or a host.
  Luckily for us, Cliff's voice is still going to be heard today. We 
honor Cliff's decades of daily radio work, but we know that, as long as 
there are battles for justice to be waged, Cliff Kelley will lead the 
fight.

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