Mutter Evans blazes broadcast trail
BY BUSTA BROWN
THE CHRONICLE
It was 1979 when a 26
year old was in Winston
Salem, North Carolina,
making history as the sec
ond African-American
woman to purchase a radio
station. Her name is
Mutter D. Evans.
“Life is series of things
that unfold, and if you
script everything, you’ll
miss out on opportunities.”
That was Evans’ reply
when I asked if she was
afraid or reluctant to take
on the responsibilities of
owning a radio station like
WAAA, which first began
broadcasting in 1950. The
station was rare at that time
in the Deep South, because
it had a white owner that
catered to a mainly black
audience.
By 1979, WAAA-AM
was well established in the'
black community. “I start
ed working at the station in
1974 as a part-time on air
personality.” While on the
air, she was a student at
Wake Forest University
with an opportunity to
work full time at WGHP
TV as a news reporter after
she graduated. Evans was
n’t comfortable with the
invasion of privacy that
came with being a TV per
Photos provided by Mutter Evans
MUtter D. Evans is shown now and at age 26 the
day she filed for the transfer of ownership of
WAAA.
sonality. “That is what
impacted me the most to
make the decision to go
into radio. That deviated
me from what I wanted to
do most.”
The future radio owner
said she wanted everything
that came with doing TV,
“But not at the expense of
my privacy.” She decided
to work at WAAA full
time, and at age 25 became
the general manager and
executive vice president.
“The owner of the station,
Bob Brown, said to me, if
and when I decide to sell
the station, I will give you
first rights of refusal.”
At first she hesitated.
“After taking the weekend
to think about it, I thought,
what I have to lose. If I fail,
I could pick myself back
up.” Evans was young, yet
bold and unafraid to step
into what has always been
a man’s world. “It was fast
moving and I was a
sponge, taking it all in.”
Her boss told her that
opportunity doesn’t always
come when you’re ready,
so when the time came to
purchase WAAA, “I took
it.” I asked' if she was
intimidated by an all-male
board. “No,” she said. I
asked why not. “It’s just
the stuff I was made of,”
she said.
Six months later,
Matter D. Evans made his
tory. “I wasn’t afraid not to
make it. I am self assured
about who I am. I was told
I was too young, I was told
I had no husband to co-sign
and I was told a black
woman can’t succeed at
this.”
Evans took the chal
lenge head on. “I dare you
tell me what I can’t do. The
See Evans on AS
BUSTA’S PERSON OF THE WEEK
Meet Dr. Telika McCoy, the child expert
BY BUSTA BROWN
THE CHRONICLE
You’ve heard the say
ing: “That Child!” I had the
pleasure of speaking to Dr.
Telika McCoy about that
child.
“When you think about
your own childhood, you
were that child. I was that
child that had to read a sen
tence more than once
because I didn’t compre
hend. So I was that child
that needed a little more'
help in class. I was that
child that needed to be
inspired that I can actually
be something,” Dr. McCoy
said.
Dr. McCoy said she
was that child that some
people would say could
never write a book, but she
did. It’s the perfect title:
“That Child! Preparing for
Challenging Moments with
Youth.”
“The idea of the book is
to get in tuned to the type
of child you were, who you
wished you had around in
your life. It doesn’t mean
you didn’t have good peo
ple around, but who was
that person that was miss
ing. And for the people that
were around, what didn’t
they give you.”
Dr. McCoy said “That
Child” will help adults
become more opened
minded toward our youth.
“Hopefully, the book will
inspire you to give what
you didn’t have.”
Dr. McCoy has always
had a passion for children
and building strong fami
lies, so she did something
about it. She attended
Shaw University, where
she majored in sociology,
and graduated with honors.
After completing her
undeigraduate studies, she
earned her Master of
Divinity degree from Shaw
University Divinity
School. While attending
seminary, she was men
tored and taught by Dr.
Gardner C. Taylor, making
her one of the few theolo
McCoy
gians to claim such educa
tion. She earned her Ph.D.
in human services from
Capella University in
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Dr. McCoy put in a lot
of hard work to better
understand how to help
“That Child,” and teach
anyone that knows a child
how to do the same.
Chapter 2 in the book is
titled “When I was young”
tactic. She talks about how
to effectively apply the tac
tic as an approach. “I’m
sure so many people
remember someone saying
to them, when I was young
... People mean to enlight
en the child when they say
it, but sometimes we don’t
apply it the right way. We
use the “when I was
young” tactic to say my
generation was better and
stronger than yours. Well,
think about how that
sounds to “That Child” that
you’re dealing with,” Dr.
McCoy said.
Chapter 2 in her book
“That Child” gives us the
dos and don’ts on how to
apply the tactic without
putting the old school and
new school generations
against each other.
The book helps anyone
that knows a child how not
to bum bridges with chil
dren. “It helps us bridge
gaps between generations.
You should apply your past
experience, but your good
ole days that are gone,
guess what; today is their
good ole days. It’s OK to
say ‘when I was young,’
but it’s how you apply it.”
The Winston-Salem
native said many times
children would say to her,
that they feel judged after
those “when I was young”
talks with adults. “Many
times adults, we don’t lis
ten to understand young
people, we listen to
'respond to them.”
It’s clear that no one is
bom wise, yet the book
helps adults understand the
importance of being patient
with children. Of course,
we talked about children
and gun violence. I men
tioned to Dr. McCoy how
parents can be in serious
denial about their chil
dren’s mental state, so what
signs should they look for?
“If they are unusually,
distant, that’s something
you should consider. You
can only find out if they’re
distant if you are asking
about their day and what’s
going on with them.” She’s
not talking about home
work, whether they’ve
washed dishes or cleaned
their room.
“A genuine concern
about the activities of their
day. If you do that now, the
moments they don’t share a
lot, that’s a red flag.” She’s
a minister, so of course she
shared some biblical prin
ciples as well. I also talked
to her about Christian vs.
professional counseling,
and how it might help or
hurt church members.
Checkout more of my
inspiring and very informa
tive interview with Dr.
Telika McCoy on our
YouTube channel @
Winstonsalem Chronicle.
Contact Dr. Telika McCoy
on Facebook and Twiiter
@drtelikamccoy.
See the letter
endorsed by these
organizations at
NCWARN.org
NCWARN • ‘
Center for Biological Diversity
Hip Hop Caucus
Food and Water Watch
Friends of the Earth
Rache Carson Council
Alliance for Climate
Education (ACE)
Public Citizen
198 methods
Hollywood United
Bonnie Raitt, Musician/Activist
Conhie and Jesse Colin Young
Musicians/ Activists
Guacamole Fund
Morning Sun Foundation
NC Environmental Justice Network
Winston Salem NAACP ' .■ h
Beloved Community Center
. Concerned Citizens of Tillery
Dogwood Alliance
Appalachian Voices
Clean Water for North Carolina
Dean Air Carolina
North Carolina Coastal Federation
Blue Ridge Environmental
Defense League
NC Climate Justice Summit
NC APPPL (Alliance to Protect Our
People and the Races We Live)
350 Triangle
350 Winston Salem
350Asheville
350Charlotte
350.org
Canary Coalition
Crystal Coast Waterkeeper/
Coastal Carolina Riverwatch
Climate Reality Project: Triangle,
NC Chapter
UNC Asheville Divest
Community Roots
Chatham Research Group
Triangle Wbmen's International
l' League for Peace and Freedom
Duke Energy:
HELP AVERT CLIMATE CHAOS...
BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE FOR US ALL
Scientists say the climate crisis is close to a'tipping point. Dramatic action
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are cheaper and ready to go. Duke claims to be green - but is only 2% renewable.
And its executives are blocking open discussion about NC Clean Path 2025.
Communities across j4L
North Carolina are already
suffering repeated floods,
fires, droughts and other
effects of global warming.
, Lynn Good, Duke Energy CEO
You have a voice - use it now!
O Tell Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good to cancel the Atlantic Coast
Pipeline and help avert climate chaos instead of making it worse:
ceoOdukt-enargy.com, 704-594-6200,526 S. Church St, Charlotte, NC 28202,
and tweet ODukeEnergy with fCllmateActlon
© Have your organization or business endorse the letter to
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EMAIL
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