Joseph Madison (June 16, 1949 – January 31, 2024), alternatively known as "The Black Eagle" or "Madison", was an American

radio talk-show Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews wi ...

host and activist heard daily on

SiriusXM Urban View SiriusXM Urban View is an African American talk radio channel on XM Satellite Radio 126 (previously 128). The subjects cover those relevant to the Black community, such as politics, economics, and social issues. The channel was originally prog ...

Early life and education

Madison was a native of Dayton, Ohio and graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1967. He graduated from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

in 1971 with a degree in sociology, and also played football for their team. His alma mater also awarded him a WashU Arts & Sciences' Distinguished Alumni Award in 2017 and an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 2019. After his death, his hometown of Dayton gave an honorary designation of "Joe Madison Way" to Cowart Avenue, the street he grew up on.

Career

Radio career

Madison began his broadcasting career in 1980 at Detroit's WXYZ-AM radio station. Joining an otherwise white lineup at

WWRC WWRC (570 AM) – branded ''AM 570 The Answer'' – is a commercial conservative talk radio station licensed to serve Bethesda, Maryland. Owned by the Salem Media Group, the station services the Washington metro area and is the market affil ...

-AM in the early 1990s, he developed a crossover appeal handling issues that included race but were aimed at the station's multiracial audience. He left in 1998, after the station fired its talent and changed format, to start an online chat show.

WOL and XM Satellite Radio

Madison also worked at

WOL-AM WOL (1450 kHz) is an urban talk AM radio station in Washington, D.C. This is the flagship radio station of Radio One. It is co-owned with WKYS, WMMJ, WPRS, and WYCB and has studios located in Silver Spring, Maryland. The transmitter site ...

, and was placed in syndication on the Radio One Talk Network and its XM satellite channel. He left WOL in 2013.

Urban View on Sirius

Madison was heard Mondays through Fridays from 6 am to 10 am on Urban View channel 126,

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...

. On Feb. 25–27, 2015, Joe Madison hosted a record-breaking marathon whereby he talked for 52 hours on his SIRIUS XM talk show. The broadcast is officially registered with the Guinness World Record Organization.

Political activism

He publicized claims of CIA complicity in moving cocaine into the United States, sought evidence, and promoted legislation to declassify possibly related documents. On October 15, 1996, Madison,

Dick Gregory Richard Claxton Gregory (October 12, 1932 – August 19, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, writer, activist and social critic. His books were bestsellers. Gregory became popular among the African-American communities in the southern U ...

, and John Newman launched a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

to promote this legislation. A quarter century later, he announced another hunger strike: this time to press for voting rights legislation.

Personal life

Madison took a DNA test indicating he has ancestry in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. Research done for ''

Finding Your Roots ''Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'' is an American documentary television series hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. that premiered on March 25, 2012, on PBS. In each episode, celebrities are presented with a "book of life" that is com ...

'' revealed that his great-grandfather was a white man from South Carolina who fought for the Confederates during the American Civil War; and his biological grandfather was included in the

Tuskegee syphilis experiment The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male (informally referred to as the Tuskegee Experiment or Tuskegee Syphilis Study) was a study conducted between 1932 and 1972 by the United States Public Health Service (PHS) and the Cent ...

. Madison lived in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, with his wife Sharon (Sherry) and was a father and grandfather. He earned his bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis. Madison died of prostate cancer at his home in Washington, D.C. on January 31, 2024, at the age of 74. He was originally diagnosed with cancer in 2009.

References

External links

Official site
*
Joe Madison & Family - Picture
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C-SPAN ''Q&A'' interview with Madison, December 16, 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Madison, Joe 1949 births 2024 deaths American talk radio hosts American people of Sierra Leonean descent American people of Mozambican descent Washington University Bears football players NAACP activists General Motors people St. Louis Cardinals (football) Service Employees International Union people Mass media people from Dayton, Ohio Deaths from prostate cancer in Washington, D.C. African-American radio personalities