Jesse Jackson Jr. heads to WVON as afternoon host

Joins Jim Laski and Clifford Kelley as convicted felons rehabilitate their image as radio hosts

On a day when a convicted felon returned to the White House, it’s only fitting another convicted felon lands a job as a radio talk show host in Chicago. 

Former disgraced congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., whose father is a civil rights icon, is back with a 3-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday gig at Midway-owned Black talk station WVON-AM, starting today according to a press release, but its website hasn’t been updated to reflect the news. 

“We feel our new lineup is optimal for the changes that are occurring in our country and globally,” Midway7 CEO Melody Spann-Cooper said in a statement. “To have an opportunity to provide a platform for someone as talented as Jesse Jr. and to introduce the station to a new generation of thought leaders with Cleopatra [Draper] positions WVON to continue to shake things up in Chicago and beyond.”

Draper takes over the 9 a.m.- noon time slot Monday from Perri Small, who retired in December. The noon-to-3 p.m. slot is held by a syndicated show hosted by the Rev. Al Sharpton. 

The move took place on the same day President Trump returns to the White House for a second term after four years away and is making sweeping changes that will impact Black Americans. 

Jackson Jr. was first elected as Congressman for the South Side and south suburban Second District in 1995 to fill a vacancy left by Mel Reynolds, who was forced to resign after he was convicted of sex crimes against an underage campaign worker. He served on Barrack Obama’s Presidential campaign in 2008. However, after being caught improperly using campaign funds, he was forced to step down in 2012 (Robin Kelly now occupies the seat). Jackson Jr. was also mentioned as a possible Mayoral candidate in 2005 but decided to stay on Capitol Hill. 

This isn’t the first time Jackson Jr. has been involved in media. In 2003, he had a cameo in CBS drama The District, and was considered for a local public affairs TV show on CBS-owned WBBM-TV until complaints from Republicans (due to equal time rules) derailed the project. After pleading guilty, Jackson spent over two years in prison and sought a pardon from President Joe Biden before he left office. 

Convicted felons with talk show gigs aren’t new in Chicago – WVON was home to former Alderman Clifford Kelley (20th), who had an afternoon show. During the Randy Michaels/Kevin Methany era at WGN-AM, convicted former alderman and city clerk Jim Laski (23rd) was an evening talk show host at the station. Laski tried to resurrect his career at WCPT-AM in 2013 but lasted only four weeks. 

WVON was also home to former Cook County President Todd Stroger, who briefly had a morning show on the station with Maze Jackson.

WVON has long held a place in Chicago’s Black community, dating back to 1963 when it was launched (I wrote a 50th Anniversary piece on WVON in 2013.) Now located on the dial at 1690 AM, where it’s been since September 18, 2006 (the very day this site was born), WVON launched at 1450 AM and later relocated to 1390 AM before moving back to 1450 in a frequency-share deal under new ownership. The station became all-talk in 1986 and was once located in the Chatham community, in the old Soft Sheen building on 87th Street from 2007 to 2018, where they moved into its current home in the South Loop.