Bob Law, a towering figure in Black radio and grassroots activism, has died, leaving behind a five-decade legacy of using the airwaves as a vehicle for consciousness and change. Best known for his groundbreaking political talk show “Night Talk,” which went national in 1981 via the National Black Network, Law helped create the first live, nationally broadcast Black radio talk show in the United States.
The program became a political nerve center for Black America and played a pivotal role in launching Jesse Jackson’s 1984 “Run Jesse Run” presidential campaign. A former Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) field secretary and WWRL community affairs director, Law merged organizing with broadcasting, building a national “Night Talk” family that raised money for causes and elevated issues from economic justice to health care. Tributes from Rev. Al Sharpton and New York Attorney General Letitia James underscore his enduring impact and the generations shaped by his voice.
When asked about the significance of “Night Talk,” Law championed its ability to bring people together, saying.
“I think the most significant is establishing a sense of community nationally among the people who do respond to ‘Night Talk,’ he said at the time. “We have just completed the organization process of the National Economic Development Council. We have come together to raise money collectively for a number of issues, from saving Mound Bayou, Mississippi, from being auctioned off to a liver transplant for a Kansas City teenager. The national audience has seen that it is possible to work together as a national family. That sense of community has been one of the things we’ve been able to develop. We’ve raised a lot of issues and hopefully raised the consciousness of people who listen to us regularly.”
