Unless you grew up in DC you probably haven’t heard of Petey Greene, the original “shock jock”.  Or maybe like me, you saw the Don Cheadle movie Talk to Me based on his radio and television career and it inspired you.  Either way, please join us in celebrating the life and legacy of Ralph Waldo “Petey” Greene; radio and television personality and civil rights activist. 

Just who was Petey Greene?  That answer will probably be different depending on how you knew him.  But for me, he was a radio pioneer and champion of black America. 

Don’t get it twisted.  This isn’t your average Black History story.  Matter of fact it has somewhat of a sad ending.  Yet and still, it is very much a story of triumph and love. 

Despite the odds being stacked against him, Petey Greene managed to change the face of radio.  Born in 1931, Petey Greene was raised by his grandmother in the Georgetown area of Washington DC. Ironically, he got his start in radio in a Virginia prison while serving time for armed robbery. 

A truth speaker, Greene, was always open and honest about his past.  Not only that, he used it as a tool to teach the public about the racial and economic injustices black people faced during those turbulent times.  In a 1971 interview airing on NPR, he criticized the penal system and the people in those positions of “authority” and “power “. 

“When I got out [in 1965] and was ready to straighten out, a parole officer told me, ‘I ain’t got to worry about you Petey, you been coming back and forth to the penitentiary all your life, so all I gotta do is wait a couple of weeks and you’ll be back in here.’ But this isn’t what he should have said. His job was to help me get a job, hook me up with a place to stay, get me a program, and get me ready to come back to mainstream society. So, I walked out. Hurt, but I wasn’t beat. I said to myself, Imma prove to this dude that he’s a liar.” 

Three years later, he was hosting two successful shows, Rapping with Petey Greene on the historic DC radio station WOL and Petey Greene’s Washington on WDCA-TV.  Which, by the way, is one of the founding T.V. shows that helped launch Black Entertainment Television.  (BET) 

And…it must be said, that a young Howard Stern, who is widely recognized for being one of the first “shock jocks,” was a guest on Petey Greene’s Washington early in his career, on which he appeared in Black face with his co-host Robin Quivers sitting front row.  If you haven’t seen it, please check it out on YouTube.  It will blow your mind. 

He wasn’t just a radio and television personality, he was a community organizer and is widely recognized as the voice that quelled the DC riots when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. 

Always outspoken, Greene used his humor to combat systemic racism and fight for the rights of returning citizens.  In a bit he called “Hustlin’ Backwards,” Greene talked about the obstacles of newly released persons.

“When I fill out for a credit card, they never ask me if I ever been locked up—they only ask how much money I make. But when I was tryin’ to get a job they would always ask me had I been to jail…I wonder sometimes, do we understand that the system is hustlin’ backwards?  If we were to hire people, as opposed to wonderin’ about their record, and then…if they go off…go ahead and fire them, as opposed to all kind of bad breaks, and they can’t get no jobs… people need jobs.”  

You don’t have to be a DC native to appreciate Petey Greene’s contributions to the culture.  That’s why we are celebrating him this month.  As someone who works in the industry, I am personally grateful for his impact, his work, his love, and how it continues to educate and inspire the next generation. God bless.

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