{"id":30080,"date":"2022-07-25T12:53:01","date_gmt":"2022-07-25T18:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/?page_id=30080"},"modified":"2022-07-25T12:53:55","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T18:53:55","slug":"tall-paul-white","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/tall-paul-white\/","title":{"rendered":"“Tall Paul” White"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Rarely has someone who has made such a lasting difference in the lives of a community, a city and beyond \u2026 rarely has such a person received so little recognition for his substantial contributions. For those who shared their memories of this broadcaster, he was, indeed, part of the fabric that held Birmingham\u2019s Black communities together. This is why the Alabama Broadcasters Association is honored to induct \u201cTall Paul\u201d White, legendary broadcaster, and civil rights pioneer, into the ABA\u2019s Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaul was the guy on the radio. He was the guy that we heard in the mornings, and he was the guy we heard in the afternoons,\u201d says Gary Richardson, owner of WJLD-AM, part of Richardson Broadcasting Corporation. \u201cHe was listened to, and people respected what he said. He didn\u2019t mince words, that\u2019s for certain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before starting his career, White served in the Army, then in 1958, he left Birmingham for Chicago in the hope of earning a broadcasting degree. When he returned to Alabama, he worked at WEUP in Huntsville as a news director and sportscaster and then at WENN, also in a news and sports capacity. By 1962, he landed the morning drive shift, and it was here that he became \u201cTall Paul\u201d.<\/p>\n

One of the first examples of White using broadcasting to aid the civil rights movement came in 1963 during the historic Birmingham Campaign, a plan which included a boycott on businesses that supported segregation. Because the campaign heightened public awareness of the issues, downtown businessmen met with Dr. Martin Luther King and other leaders at the Gaston Hotel to negotiate an end to the boycott. The very next day, the hotel was bombed. Dr. King was the target, but he had already left town. The blast blew out the windows at WENN just a half block away and White, who lived in an apartment across the street from the motel, ran to the station and began to broadcast the breaking news.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaul was all about really just looking out for other people,\u201d explains Richardson. \u201cHe was about being for events and causes that were bigger than himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheila Tyson, Jefferson County Commissioner remembers knowing who \u201cTall Paul\u201d was at a very early age. \u201cMy parents knew Paul, and my mom would always say, \u2018We\u2019ve got to listen to the \u201cPlayboy\u201d, (another influential D.J.), and \u201cTall Paul\u2019\u201d, says Tyson. \u201cBecause he would broadcast and say something like: \u2018Yeah, there\u2019s going to be a party down on 14th Avenue and 18th Street and if I was you, I\u2019d get there, you know what I\u2019m saying?\u2019 And then everyone would relocate to that place because they knew that\u2019s where the protest was at.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh yes, Paul had a connection with all the teenagers at all the schools and he would motivate them to take part in protests,\u201d explains Richardson. \u201cHe\u2019d use coding \u2026 street jargon \u2026 to tell everybody the different places to go.\u201d
\n\u201cI was on a softball team that \u2018Tall Paul\u2019 coached,\u201d smiles Tyson. \u201cWe got to travel, and Paul would talk to us about voting rights and civil rights, and it was more educational than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In fact, Tyson\u2019s life goals are a direct result of White\u2019s guidance. \u201cYes, he was a great influence,\u201d she says. \u201cHe wanted us to go to HBCU, (historically Black colleges and universities). He believed in education \u2013 that it opened the doors to our future. And he was not lying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPaul would give you life-learning tips,\u201d says Richardson. \u201cEarly in my career, I didn\u2019t want to be like these guys on the radio who sounded ignorant, and I was using different words and Paul called me over and said he noticed me using some big words. And he said, \u2018listen, we in mass communication, not class communication.\u2019 And that stuck with me!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe should not be left out of history,\u201d Tyson says. \u201cHe was a great part of the civil rights movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe really wasn\u2019t a technician of broadcasting,\u201d sums up Richardson. \u201cBut he certainly used it as a tool \u2026 as an instrument for the greater good.\u201d<\/p>\n

White passed away on August 19, 2001, at the age of 65. He spoke with WATV\u2019s Shelly Stewart in 1999 and concluded his last interview by saying, \u201cLife is hard by the yard and a cinch by the inch.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rarely has someone who has made such a lasting difference in the lives of a community, a city and beyond \u2026 rarely has such a person received so little recognition for his substantial contributions. For those who shared their memories of this broadcaster, he was, indeed, part of the fabric that held Birmingham\u2019s Black communities … Continue reading “Tall Paul” White<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-30080","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30080"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30082,"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30080\/revisions\/30082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}