WLOK Radio

AM 1340 · FM 105 — A Family Tradition. The first Black-owned radio station in Memphis, and a microphone that has always been open to working people.

WLOK is a Memphis institution — on the air since 1956, the first Black-owned (and first locally owned) radio station in the city since Art Gilliam purchased it in 1977, and a recognized Tennessee Historical Landmark. From the soul sound that made it the young Memphis station of the 1960s to the gospel format that earned it the title of #1 Gospel Station in the nation, WLOK has never stopped being what a radio station should be: the voice of its community. And when labor has something to say — in Memphis and across the nation — WLOK turns the microphone on.

Listen Live · Memphis, Tennessee

WLOK — AM 1340 · FM 105

Still a Family Tradition — live from Memphis, 24/7.

Full schedule & video stream at wlok.com

What WLOK Does

First Black-Owned Station in Memphis

In February 1977, Art Gilliam bought WLOK — making it the first Black-owned and first locally owned radio station in the city. Nearly 50 years later, it's still a family tradition: AM 1340 and FM 105, the only Black-owned FM station in Memphis.

A Union Story of Its Own

In 1970, WLOK's on-air staff walked out on a 10-day strike over low wages and poor working conditions — and won. The station hired its first Black station manager, Harvey E. Lynch, and turned decisively toward the community it served. WLOK doesn't just cover labor — it lived it.

A Civil Rights Landmark

WLOK kept close ties with the NAACP and Operation PUSH — founding members of the Memphis PUSH chapter were full-time WLOK DJs. In February 1997, the Tennessee Historical Commission recognized WLOK as a Tennessee Historical Landmark.

Gospel & the Stone Soul Picnic

By the mid-1980s WLOK went full gospel, earning consecutive years as the #1 Gospel Station in the nation from Religion & Media Quarterly — while the WLOK Stone Soul Picnic drew tens of thousands of Memphians to Martin Luther King Park.

Leadership

Art Gilliam

President & CEO, Gilliam Communications · Owner of WLOK since 1977

A Yale-educated businessman and Black Radio Hall of Famer, Art Gilliam was the first Black on-air reporter and anchor at Memphis' Action News 5 before purchasing WLOK in February 1977 — making history as the owner of the first Black-owned radio station in Memphis. Nearly fifty years behind the mic later, Mr. Gilliam still leads Gilliam Communications with the same conviction: the station belongs to the community it serves.

Host · The Rainbow PUSH Hour

Rev. Dr. Kevin André Brooks

Host, The Rainbow PUSH Hour (Sundays 6 PM) & Let's Talk Law (Mondays 6 PM) on WLOK · Pastor, Providence AME Church

Dr. Brooks was raised in organizing — his mother was a union machinist right here in Memphis, so the labor movement isn't a talking point to him, it's home. A son of Uptown who grew up in the gymnasiums of the Greenlaw and Bickford community centers, he holds a B.A. in Political Science from LeMoyne-Owen College, an M.Ed. from Coppin State University, a Master of Divinity from Howard University, a Certificate in Non-Profit Executive Management from Duke University, a Doctorate of Ministry from Payne Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Morgan State University. With more than 25 years in educational leadership, non-profit executive management and ministry, he pastors Providence AME Church — a 150-year-old anchor institution in the Uptown District — with a ministerial emphasis on social justice, grassroots organizing, education reform and leadership development, and serves his home neighborhoods on the Uptown Advisory Committee of the Memphis & Shelby County Community Redevelopment Agency. That's why, when labor comes on his show, Dr. Brooks is spot on about labor and the community: he was raised around unions — and it shows.

Labor on the Air

The Rainbow PUSH Hour with Dr. Kevin Brooks

I was honored to be invited back to WLOK's airwaves on The Rainbow PUSH Hour with Dr. Kevin Brooks, alongside the legendary Kermit Moore — President of the Memphis A. Philip Randolph Institute, President of the Memphis NAACP, and a retired USW member. We talked labor, and Dr. Brooks was spot on about labor and the community — like he always is.

That's WLOK. This station has always stood with working people, in Memphis and across the nation. When labor needs a voice, WLOK turns it up.

— Kevin Bradshaw

President, Memphis & West Tennessee Central Labor Council

The Rainbow PUSH Hour airs Sundays at 6 PM on WLOK — carrying forward the station's decades-long bond with Operation PUSH and the movement for economic justice.

Why the Labor Movement Loves WLOK

Radio built for the community will always make room for working people. From the DJs who helped found the Memphis chapter of Operation PUSH, to a 1970 walkout that proved even broadcasters organize, to today's Rainbow PUSH Hour putting labor leaders on the air — WLOK has kept its microphone open to the movement for generations. When Memphis labor has something to say, WLOK is where it gets said.

A Community Partner of Labor Education

WLOK and the labor movement go together like Memphis and soul. President Kevin Bradshaw and the legendary Kermit Moore are proud repeat guests on WLOK's airwaves, and Labor Education is honored to feature the legendary station that has always stood with working people. Tune in on AM 1340 or FM 105, stream at wlok.com, and support the Memphis institution that keeps the community's voice strong.

Connect with WLOK Radio

Want to get involved, partner, or learn more? Reach out through their website.