Joe Madison was a civil rights activist who hosted the SiriusXM radio talk show “Joe Madison the Black Eagle.”
- Died: January 31, 2024 (Who else died on January 31?)
- Details of death: Died of prostate cancer at the age of 74.
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Joe Madison’s legacy
Before beginning his radio career, Madison focused on civil rights activism. At the age of 24, he became the youngest ever executive director of the Detroit branch of the NAACP. He worked his way up to national NAACP leadership, first as its national political director and then as a member of its national board of directors. Among his accomplishments with the NAACP was organizing a series of marches to inspire voter registrations.
Madison first worked on the radio in Detroit before moving on to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. His program on Washington’s WOL-AM became nationally syndicated via Radio One and eventually made its way to SiriusXM in 2008. Airing on SiriusXM Urban View, “Joe Madison the Black Eagle” brought his dedication to civil rights to a nationwide audience, inspiring listeners to fight injustice with his signature phrase, “What are you going to do about it?”
In 2015, Madison set a Guinness World Record by talking on the radio for 52 straight hours. He did it in service of a cause – raising money for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture – and he brought in more than a quarter of a million dollars for the institution. Madison made headlines in 2021 as he engaged in a 73-day hunger strike to encourage Congress to pass laws cementing voting rights. He also advocated for the passage of the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which became law in 2022.
Notable quote
“When people ask, what do you talk about, I laugh, because… we talk about everything – war in Iraq, education – not just urban issues, but we talk about it from a perspective that doesn’t get heard that often.” —from a 2007 interview on C-SPAN with Brian Lamb
Tributes to Joe Madison
Full obituary: NewsOne
