The Voice of The People Has a Deaf Ear

There is only one radio station that is responsible for making me question everything I was spoon fed since birth. I owe my coming out to WLS 89 AM, Rush, Hannity, Mark Levin and all the local Chicago hosts who have bravely stood up against liberal policies.

When I won the contest and my first show was approaching I was desperate for a different angle. I was eager to be a conservative voice covering hot topics and little local stories that may have been missed during the week.

I dabbled with Stephanie Miller but the language is not fit for my young son. Hal Sparks is the only host that makes me want to punch a wall. If I ever meet him I will have to resist picking him up and…I digress. The urban talk radio station in Chicago is the home of nationally popular hosts and out spoken local personalities. I have heard one of their host tell listeners during the last mayor election, to vote for Carol Moseley Braun because is was black.

I still listen occasionally, with all the violence in Chicago I want to hear what the residents are saying about the attacks. Next month the station is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a huge gala event. The promos have been running for weeks, listing all the celebrities scheduled to be part of this historical event. I enjoy listening to the timeline of how the station was started and maintained its status for 50 years.

I thought the tickets were all $50. While listening to the morning show this week I heard a caller talk about buying two $250 tickets instead of the $500 tickets she really wanted. I almost drove off the road. This station spent hours telling voters that Mitt was too rich to truly understand struggling black people. They talk endlessly about the lack of jobs and resources in the neighborhoods of their audience.

Later the mid-morning host was promoting the gala and said the $100 tickets would get you a really nice reception. After the commercial break, she apologized and said $100 does not get you a reception. I went online to see what the ticket options were. The only remaining tickets are $118.96 and $274.90 with fees and taxes. The cheap tickets were actually $67.65 at checkout. VIP tickets are available at the station.

Help me out. This gala is to celebrate “THE” urban talk station that has a show called “Keeping It Real” and real people suffering under policies of Obama, the former King Daley and current Mini Mafia Mayor are being kept away by high priced tickets.

The hosts and callers constantly say that black money should be spent in our community, “We need to support our black owned businesses”. The historical venue is located in the heart of downtown Chicago. I searched the theater’s site for parking suggestions. If you pre-pay it is $21. When I drove downtown for 3 hours on a Saturday afternoon, the fees were $27-$34. I started taking the train for $7 round trip. The event is scheduled on a Saturday evening. Most people won’t use public transportation given that the event may not end until after 10pm.

The Chatham 14 Theater would have been the idea venue. Free parking and it is a short distance from the radio station. The list of famous people scheduled to appear could have donated their time to keep the prices down. Imagine a red carpet event where the common listeners get to shake hands with people they love. Everyone could be VIP’s! I paid $50 for CPAC in 2012 and I got to sit wherever I could squeeze in. During the day at times I was arms length from a few of my idols. If I pay $500 for a ticket, I want one of the speakers to appear at my next book club meeting.

This station has a rich history of being the voice of black Chicago but apparently they are blind to the financial pains of the listeners. Maybe I am a tight-wad but $67 for cheap seats is a lot of money. The VIP tickets are used to separate the classes, so bourgeois (we call in it "boo-jee" in the hood). These are the very policies they bash daily. Bottom up economics my Aunt Fannie.

Maybe I am missing something? Please correct me.