Radio personality and civil rights advocate Joe Madison has died at age 74.
He spent years working with the NAACP before launching his broadcast career and becoming a longtime radio voice in D.C.
Known as The Black Eagle, Madison took his passion for justice from the civil rights movement to the airwaves. “What are you going to do about it?” he was known for asking.
“He comes from a tradition of activism, and he understands that change only occurs when people take part in some form of movement or some form of struggle,” Kojo Nnamdi of WAMU said.
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Nnamdi remembered Madison as a voice for those without one.
“The passion is what characterized Joe Madison’s entire career. This is a man who went on hunger strikes in support of causes he was invested in,” he said. “When you listened to Joe Madison, you picked up that passion yourself.”
While in Detroit at age 24, Madison was the youngest person to lead an NAACP chapter. He went on to serve as the civil rights organization’s national political director and as a board member.
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In 1980, he began his radio career in Detroit before moving to Philadelphia and then D.C., where he appeared on WOL before joining SiriusXM in 2008.
In 2015, Madison set the Guinness world record for the longest on-air broadcast, at 52 hours. During the record-breaking show, he raised more than $250,000 for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Madison was part of the News4 family, appearing on our public affairs show Reporter’s Notebook for years.
Political leaders from President Joe Biden to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser were among those who flooded social media with tributes.
Denise Rolark Barnes, publisher of The Washington Informer, D.C.’s oldest African American newspaper, recalled Madison’s days at WOL in D.C.
“He really had a passion not only for journalism but for the community that he served,” she said.
Madison was a proud husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. His family announced his death on social media, saying, “He dedicated his life to fighting for all those who are undervalued, underestimated and marginalized.”
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Madison had battled prostate cancer since 2009. He took a leave of absence from his SiriusXM show last December to deal with health issues.
He was surrounded by family when he died. A memorial service will be held at a later date.
