Making Waves: The Happy-Am-I Preacher

Radio Diaries

Radio Diaries & Radiotopia

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 20 February 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1934, the Washington Post called Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux, the “best known colored man in America.” He was known as the Happy-Am-I Preacher. His Sunday services were broadcast to over 25 million listeners on CBS radio. Black America saw Michaux as a leader for racial harmony and progress. But during the civil rights movement, his reputation took an unlikely turn.

This is episode 1 of our new miniseries Making Waves, three profiles of people who pushed the boundaries of radio. They used the microphone in different ways: one to warn, one to rile, one to preach. What they had in common is they were all controversial, they spoke to huge audiences in their time, and today, they’re largely forgotten.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Radio Diaries, this is Joe, and we want to shout out a fellow Radiotopia show, The Recipe with Kenji and Deb.
0:07.5	It's like a great cookbook in podcast form. Homecook extraordinaire's Kenji Lopez-Alt of Serious Eats and Deb Pearlman of Smitton Kitchen teach you a different dish every episode, along with the ingredients and techniques that will bring
0:21.7	your cooking skills to the next level. I'm sure a lot of you already listen to podcasts while you
0:26.4	cook, so why not learn how to make your next meal? Listen and subscribe to the recipe with Kenji
0:32.0	and Deb wherever you get your podcasts, we're at Radiotopia.fm.
0:37.3	Radiotopia.fm. Radiootopia.
0:39.6	From PRX.
0:41.4	From PRX's Radiotopia, this is Radio Diaries.
0:44.3	I'm Joe Richmond.
0:46.4	Today we're launching a new miniseries,
0:48.7	three profiles of people who push the boundaries of radio.
0:52.8	They use the microphone in different ways. One to warn, one to rile, one to preach.
0:58.9	What they had in common was they were all controversial, they spoke to huge audiences
1:03.3	in their time, and today they're largely forgotten.
1:07.3	This is part one of our series, Making Waves.
1:12.1	In 1934, the Washington Post called Elder Lightfoot Solomon Meshaw, the best-known colored man in America.
1:20.1	Meshaw was called the Happy Am I Preacher.
1:22.5	His Sunday services were broadcast to over 25 million listeners on CBS radio.
1:27.6	Black America saw Mishaw as a leader for racial harmony and progress, but during the
1:32.2	civil rights movement, his reputation took an unlikely turn.
1:36.0	Today's episode, The Happy Am I Preacher.
1:47.0	Good morning from the nation's capital. From the Church of God in Washington, D.C.
	...

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