Thursday, June 6, 2019

Alonzo Pendleton has carved out a legacy of his own at WDIA

Alonzo Pendleton, WDIA's chief engineer, worked 48 years at the station and
retired in late April. (Photos by Mark Stansbury Sr.)
By now most people know that WDIA AM 1070 was the first radio station in the United States in 1949 to provide programming entirely for blacks featuring black radio personalities.
Remember Theo “Bless My Bones” Wade, Nat D. Williams, Martha Jean “The Queen” Steinberg, Maurice “Hot Rod” Hulbert, Ford Nelson, A.C. “Moohah” Williams, Markhum “Mark” L. Stansbury Sr. and other black on-air radio pioneers?
They were integral to WDIA’s successful transition from country and western to urban oldies and classic soul. The latter format was conducive to the station’s output of 50,000 watts of black listening power.
But it is unlikely that the WDIA listening audience would know Alonzo Pendleton. That’s because Pendleton worked behind the scene to make sure the signal and other electronic gadgetry at the station operated at optimum levels.
WDIA luminaries (l to r): Tracey Betha, Alonzo Pendleton,
Stormy Taylor and Mark Stansbury Sr.
Pendleton was hired as an engineer in April of 1971. He retired this year in April after devoting 48 years of his life doing what he loves best.
“I started with WDIA because that was one of the things that I was good at – radio technology,” said Pendleton, a former amateur radio operator prior to joining the station.
He was in his mid-20s when good fortune knocked on his door. In fact, it was Pendleton who came knocking on WDIA’s door looking for a job after graduating from Memphis State University in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering.
“When I graduated, it was the year that the space program was laying off thousands of engineers around the country. So the engineering field was flooded,” Pendleton recalls.
That year – 1970 – the nation’s space budget and jobs were slashed. As a result, thousands of engineers and technicians scampered to find any kind of job just to take care of their families. The aerospace industry had essentially crashed.
“I couldn’t find a job in engineering anywhere. In the Memphis area, there wasn’t anything. So I stopped telling people that I had a degree.”
It was slim pickings for engineering jobs – anywhere. Pendleton, however, forged ahead, focusing his job search instead on WDIA. Not knowing if he would get a job, he completed the application nonetheless and hoped for the best.
“The chief engineer asked me to come in one night because I kept bugging him about a job every other day or so,” Pendleton remembers.
That night, he said Henry Fones, the chief engineer, was trying to restore the power to a transmitter that had stumped Fones and his assistant. Pendleton said he had never seen the transmitter, but offered to help.
 “They could not find the problem with the transmitter,” he said.
A transmitter produces radio waves with an antenna and travels through the air at the speed of light. Electric current is then produced and sends a signal, the heartbeat of radio. If the signal fades, or dies, it could cost a radio station more than money.
“I was sitting at the desk as they worked on the transmitter, and looking at the diagram, and listening to what they were saying as they made checks and measurements.”
It then occurred to Pendleton that the capacitor in the transmitter might be the problem. He told Fones what he’d deduced, but “the chief engineer said, ‘No, it couldn’t be the capacitor.’”
The transmitter, he said, continued to baffle Fones and his assistant. “So he got frustrated and said, ‘Okay, I’ll check that capacitor.’”
Pendleton said Fones couldn’t find the capacitor in the transmitter and was sure – without a doubt – the capacitor wasn’t there.
“I argued with him and said, ‘No. It’s got to be there.’”
Pendleton was steadfast; he held his ground. Fones, however, relented and took another look. He discovered that the capacitor was indeed in the transmitter; however, it had exploded into shreds.
Fones ran home to get a capacitor, he said. “It took him about 30 minutes. He got back, put the capacitor in, and the transmitter came right up and started working.”
Pendleton had impressed Fones. His knowledge and forethought had spoken volumes about his skillset. “He said, ‘I got to have you on my team.’”
Pendleton had trudged ahead in spite of the grim job market for engineers and landed squarely on his feet at WDIA.
Over the course of his employment, Pendleton had worked with Theo “Bless My Bones” Wade, Nat D. Williams, Robert “Honey Boy” Thomas and others. They’d taken the station to new heights. Pendleton, however, provided the power – 50,000 watts.
“It was a blessing to work with them, to even know them,” said Pendleton, being modest about his own legacy and contributions to WDIA.
Management had been all white until 1972 when Charles “Chuck” Scruggs broke the color barrier. He was hired as WDIA’s general manager and vice president, the first black person to hold the position.
Scruggs had added a little color to management and understood the importance of Pendleton’s job. When the chief engineer position became vacant, Scruggs promoted Pendleton.
“You can’t get any higher than chief engineer,” said Pendleton, who had survived several buyouts during his tenure. After carving out his own legacy at WDIA, he bid farewell to iHeartMedia Inc., the station’s owner.
“I love the industry,” he said. “I actually didn’t want to retire. But you get older.”

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Juneteenth returns to Robert R. Church Park June 14-16

Relaxing underneath the canopy of a shade tree, revelers listen as music reverberates
from the stage at last year's Juneteenth Urban Music Festival in historic Robert R.
Church Park. (Photos by Lakendrex McNeil)
When history and culture converge at the historic Robert R. Church Park in downtown Memphis June 14-16, revelers on the ground will experience the best that the Juneteenth Urban Music Festival has to offer.
“We’re working hard to bring Memphis the best in music, food and entertainment,” said Telisa Franklin, the festival’s president/CEO. “We’re expecting somewhere around 40,000 people to attend the three-day festival.”
Memphis is ripe for such a festival as Juneteenth, where children, adults and entire families come together to support one of Memphis’ longest running African American festivals – now celebrating 27 consecutive years of fun and excitement.
An estimated 40,000 people are expected to revel in the
park during the three-day festival.
“The festival is a staple in Memphis,” said Franklin. “Festivalgoers can look forward to another year of eclectic music, choirs, entertainment, arts and crafts, food vendors, majorettes, dancers, steppers, cheerleaders, a car and bike show, activities for seniors and kids and more.”
The artists line-up for the weekend include the Tennessee Mass Choir, Pam Armour and The Memphis Shop, Courtney Little, Wendell Weathers & Greater Purpose, the Disciples of Mime, Tabitha Adams, Brandon Lewis, Sherry Self, Diamond Praise Dance Company, Donte Everhart & End Time Movement, Hope Church, and many more.
The festival is open to the public.
Prior to the three-day festival, festivalgoers can look forward to the Juneteenth Career and Health Fair Expo on Tuesday, June 11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at J.I.F.F., 254 S. Lauderdale St. Job seekers will get an opportunity to talk to dozens of potential employers.
“We advise job seekers to bring their resumes and dress for success,” said Franklin. “This year the Shelby County Reentry Program will provide assistance to help felons. We just want to provide a service for those who are having a hard time.”
In addition to the Juneteenth Career and Health Fair Expo, attendees can look forward to the Memphis Juneteenth Lifetime Achievement Awards on Thursday, June 13, at the Holiday Inn University of Memphis, 3700 Central Ave.
The awards program will begin at 7 p.m. and include dinner and an original play, “I Know Who I Am,” written by local playwright Dr. Sharli Kay Adair, Juneteenth’s director of operations.
The honorees include The Rev. Ricky Floyd, pastor of Pursuit of God Transformation Center; Sheila Whalum, first lady of New Olivet Baptist Church; Gina Y. Sweat, director of Memphis Fire Services; Bishop Wesley J. Arije, Presiding Bishop and Chief Apostle of the March of Faith International Fellowship, Inc.; Vincent Tharpe & Kenosis; Shania Brown, a young filmmaker, producer and actress; Stanley Smith of Erole’s Expose Modeling Agency; Felecia Bean Barnes of Felicia Bean Catering & Food Service; choir director Adrian Maclin; Gwendolyn Turner, co-founder, Billy Rivers and the Angelic Voices of Faith, Inc.; Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings; and Timothy Mason, Grammy nominated and Stellar Award-winning musician, producer and writer.
On Friday, June 14, from 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., the Juneteenth Urban Music Festival officially begins with live stage performances, activities for seniors, a number of vendors, and Kids Zone, with rides, games and inflatables.
There will be a mobile outdoor educational museum on the grounds each day depicting the history of Juneteenth, including the abolition of slavery and the facts surrounding President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
The next day – Saturday, June 15, from 10 a.m. – 11 p.m. – live stage performances will continue in addition to the “Juneteenth Ultimate Dance Showdown,” featuring the “best of the best” majorettes, dancers, steppers and cheerleaders. Other activities are scheduled for the youth and the entire family as well.
Sunday, June 16, is “Food Truck Sunday” and “Praise Fest at Juneteenth,” featuring gospel music, inspirational and encouraging words spoken by ministers, preachers and gospel artists and more from 12 p.m. – 10 p.m. Some of Memphis’ most talented choirs, singers and musicians will take center stage.
 “Juneteenth is here to stay. We celebrate our freedom from slavery because it is important that we don’t forget where we came from,” said Franklin. “This is an opportunity for all of us, including other ethnicities, to eat, dance, worship and be merry.”
Juneteenth is a national holiday in the United States commemorating the abolition of slavery and the freeing of the last African-American slaves in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865. The commemoration began in Memphis 27 years ago.
(For more information about the Juneteenth Urban Music Festival, contact Telisa Franklin at 901-281-6337 or log on to www.memphisjuneteenth.com.)