Letter to Art Laboe, pioneering DJ who helped end segregation in Southern California
This letter series encourages us to express what often goes unsaid for those that have gone before us and especially those who are still with us. Whether words of gratitude or heartache or honor, this is an opportunity to tell them now.
Dear Art,
You were on the radio for 80 years(!) and your show was simple. People could call in, leave a dedication for a loved one, and request a song. No bells, no whistles, no conditions; just “oldies but goodies” and pure love.
What it became for me and many LA based kids of my generation was a deep education in what happens when you offer a space free of judgement where anyone can express their love in their own words using their own names. An education on the power of communal love.
Many of those that called in were from the black and brown neighborhoods across Southern California. Many had life experiences different from my own and I imagine from yours as well but as a young person, I felt close to them upon hearing their voices.
I learned about what a mothers’ love sounded like, a son’s love, a primo’s love. I learned about distance and loss and heartbreak. I learned about local “correctional” facilities, the people in them, and the people that deeply loved those in them.
I learned what it meant to have a song speak for you and how it can say everything that you find difficult to say, and that’s enough sometimes. I learned about the simple power of hearing that someone loves you and how that can get you through a difficult day.
My favorite moments were when you’d read out dedications that felt far from what your life experience seemed to be. This man born to Armenian Mormon parents reading out dedications to “Stiffy” and “Papi EZ-Rock.” You never changed your tone or placed commentary on the people you were speaking for. You spoke with respect, directness, and sincerity for everyone.
Thank you for teaching me about the importance of opening a space without bounds. A space for all to proudly call their own as well as each others’.
I’m grateful for these lessons I received from you and I hope to create space and love in this way.
::Smooooooch!::
Erika
A Dedication from the Art Laboe Connection:
This is Marie from San Pablo, California and I want to tell my son Antonio “CoCo” at North Kern in Delano- I love very you much, I miss you, and always keep your head held high my son. Please play “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood ” by the Animals.
Love, Ma
Learn more about Art Laboe. May his simple yet profound legacy live on.
A Tribute to a California DJ Who Connected Lovers on the Air for 80 Years
Pioneering DJ Art Laboe, who coined ‘oldies but goodies,’ dies at 97