The Booty Butt-Naked Truth radio program
As the engineer fades out Marvin Gaye’s “God is Love,” the “Booty Call” begins. Harold Davis, your host, clears his throat—just once!—and raps the following ‘disclaimer’: “It’s the undisputed, untold, uncut, uncensored, unapologetic, un-bought, straight-forward, down-the-middle butt-naked truth. We say the things most of you are afraid to dream about or think about. We say liberation without the continuation of the mis-education and the misinformation to the black man and black woman. Down with the accommodators; up with the liberators!” Then, for the next two hours straight—no commercials, no news, no traffic, no weather, that’s too establishment, yo!—Davis and co-hosts Kamla Ronan, Boyse Edwards and Robert “Red” Ross riff on all matters relevant to the Black community. Airing on WBGX, whose slogan is the Big Gospel Express, listeners can hear Davis question the effectiveness of clergy considered leaders in the community—folks such as Reverends Corey Brooks, Jesse Jackson Sr. and James Meeks—while actively advocating local, black-owned businesses and restaurants, such as the Salaam and Soul Vegetarian, that serve calorie-conscience cuisine. “Get some food that won’t kill you,” he urges. Davis’ raw-bone, raw-ass critiques can have the subtlety of a brick, such as his very real (and damn funny) imitation of Representative Bobby Rush’s cancer-crushed speaking voice, and his support of the herculean community outreach delivered by the Reverend Paul Hall. Unashamed and unyielding in his support of Hall—convicted in 1989 of child molestation—Davis has said, among other things, “I don’t have a heaven or hell to put nobody in.”
Tuesday-Thursday, 2pm-4pm, WBGX-AM 1570, gospel1570.com
Best of Chicago 2013