It was hard to ignore this Chicago DJ’s voice. Al Benson, whose real name was Al Leaner, refused to train himself to speak like other Black DJs. In the 1940s, Black DJs were supposed to sound indistinguishable from white ones, but not Benson. He used slang, drank brown liquor on air, and spoke in his natural Mississippi-born voice.
While other Black DJs stuck to the rules and advertised, Benson promoted only Black businesses and artists, even singing his own songs, which was against radio regulations. It may have seemed like Benson had no respect for rules, but the truth is, he had more respect for our people.
A product of the Great Migration, the Jackson, Mississippi native understood what it meant to wish for a taste of home. He gave his listeners good down-home music and inspired Black pride over the airwaves. And yet, he wasn’t done connecting with Mississippi, not by a long shot.
Benson rented a plane and stuffed it with flyers that read “Free my People,” and copies of the U.S. Constitution. The plane flew across the state, dropping flyers everywhere in an effort to wake up Black people to resist discrimination and remind them that the Supreme Court had ruled against school segregation.
Benson’s voice was recognizable, but his message still rings in our ears today. Wherever we connect and accept each other, we set the stage for liberation. Our power knows no bounds.