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Alfred Liggins is the Other Half of Urban One’s Success Story

OMAHA STAR — “Look, my mother has an amazing story from where she came, and she’s always been more of a forefront person. A lot of people tend to think this woman built this company and she made her son the CEO, but they don’t realize how long I’ve been at the company and that it was really a joint effort. They tend to think it’s a traditional family business. But my mother is very good at giving me credit. She did it when we were in Omaha.”

Published

7 years ago

March 11, 2019

Oakland Post

By Leo Adam Biga, The Omaha Star

The oft-told entrepreneurial success narrative of Urban One founder and chair Cathy Hughes tends to leave out a crucial part of the story: her son and company CEO Alfred Liggins III is an equal partner in the journey of this black multimedia and entertainment enterprise.

By now, the tale of this single mother’s rise from Omaha dreamer to Washington, D.C. icon is the stuff of legend. But what gets lost in translation is that her son also came out of Omaha. He was only 7 when he moved with his mom to D.C., but he was there long enough to form fond memories of school (Sacred Heart, Mammoth Park), recreation (Kellom Pool, Fontenelle Park) and spending time with extended family (his maternal grandparents Helen Jones Woods and William Alfred Woods).

For years, he came back annually to visit family. He twice lived with his biological father Alfred Liggins II.

Contrary to popular belief, he didn’t enter or inherit the family business after it was already rolling. He was there from its fledgling start and helped make it a success. He’s since taken it to unimagined heights.

But even he is in awe of his mom.

“Yeah, I marvel at her gumption and her fearlessness,” he said. “You have to remember, she’s only 17 years older than I am. The business was founded in 1980. I joined full time in 1985 when we had the one radio station, so I’ve had a front-row seat on the business journey from almost the beginning.

“She was very open in making me her business partner very early. It’s really a joint journey.”

Along the way, there’s been little time to admire what they’ve done together.

“It wasn’t like we were sitting back watching, going, ‘Oh, look at what we did.’ You’re too busy trying to keep doing what you’re doing on the right track and figuring out how to fix the stuff that’s not working and figuring out what the next thing is.”

He doesn’t mind her getting most of the pub.

“Look, my mother has an amazing story from where she came, and she’s always been more of a forefront person. A lot of people tend to think this woman built this company and she made her son the CEO, but they don’t realize how long I’ve been at the company and that it was really a joint effort. They tend to think it’s a traditional family business.

“But my mother is very good at giving me credit. She did it when we were in Omaha.”

Last May, Omaha feted Hughes at events celebrating her life, including naming a street in her honor. Liggins was content letting his mom have the spotlight.

“I never spend a bunch of time doing press or correcting people because that’s just not who I am. I love our partnership. I’m grateful and happy that people are inspired by her story, our story, and it’s a great story and a great journey. I don’t feel a need to build my own story separate and apart from hers.

“But if I get called for an interview and we start talking about it, I’m happy to lay out what my role was and what our relationship is.”

Before coming on full time at age 20 in 1985, Liggins worked at the station as a sportscaster and weekend talk-show host while a high school teenager.

“I guess it was cool I worked at a radio station, but I didn’t really want to do it. I was kind of required to do it. I didn’t really want to be in the radio business at first. I wanted to be in the record business.”

He went to L.A. to live with his stepfather, Dewey Hughes, looking to break into the music biz.

“I ended up unemployed and my mother suggested I come back to D.C., work at the station, go to college at night and get my act together and figure out what to do next, so I did that.”

What was then known as Radio One consisted of a single station. Within a decade, the mother and son built the company into a nationwide network.

“I always had a talent for sales. I went into the sales department and started to be successful pretty early on,” Liggins said.

He kept doubling his earnings from year to year until, by his early 20s, he was pulling down $150,000.

“I was young making a lot of money. That was the time I realized this would be a great career path if we could grow the business beyond where we were.”

Between his earnings and social life, he dropped out of night school. It was only some years later he applied to the Wharton School of Business executive management master’s program. Despite not being a college graduate, he got in on the strength of managing a $25 million a year company and recommendations from the likes of the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

“The idea that I had doubled-back and ended up getting in an Ivy League business school was exciting to me. It kind of felt like I was beating the system in some way.

My diploma says the same thing everyone else’s diploma says. In the end, I feel like I got my ticket punched, my certification, my bona fides.”

While he took care of business behind the scenes, Cathy Hughes made her presence known on air.

“My mother was doing the morning show and I was a stabilizing force in the sales department. She did some things on the air, like lead the Washington Post boycott, which really started to brand her as the voice of the black community. I was able to sell that to mainstream advertisers. We started to make money. It wasn’t a ton, but we went from losing four, five hundred thousand dollars to making a couple hundred thousand dollars.”

Reaching a more substantial audience came next.

“We owned one AM radio station, and FM radio at that time was really exploding. It was where all the audience was, AM was dying. We set out and put together a plan to expand into FM radio. I identified an FM we could afford. Investors worked with my mother and me to figure out how to finance it. It was like a $7.5 million purchase. I think they needed like 10 different minority-focused, venture-capital entities to put up the funding. And we got our first FM.

“That first year the bank required us to keep it in an adult contemporary format that wasn’t black-targeted because they wanted to have the cash flow. But we didn’t do that very well and we fell out of the ratings book. We were like, ‘OK, can we change the format to something we know?’ So, we changed to an urban adult contemporary and it took off like a rocket.”

For the first time, the company recorded serious profits.

“Five years later the AM and the FM were doing $10 million of revenue and $5 million of profitability. We became a wild success. Then we bought into the Baltimore market – our first market outside of Washington. Then we kept going from there. I felt like we were on this mission to build this business. I felt optimistic and empowered and energetic and vigorous.”

In charge of day-to-day operations for more than two decades, Liggins has led subsequent strategic moves – from taking the company public in 1998 to brokering deals that created TV One and Interactive One (now iOne Digital) to entering the casino-gaming industry. He’s also guided the company in divesting itself of low-performing stations and other media segment drags and in acquiring Reach Media, whose national radio lineup includes Tom Joyner, Erica Campbell, DL Hughley and the Rev. Al Sharpton.

“We built our company around serving the black community,” he said.

That’s why getting into television was key.

“BET was created in Washington in 1980 – the same year Radio One was formed. We knew BET founder Robert Johnson. The people who invested in Radio One were also involved in BET. One of our lead investors was actually on the BET board, so we had a front-row seat to see that success.

“It was clear there was only one network targeting black people in the entire country, and that didn’t make any sense. But we were building the radio station and TV remained off our radar for a time.”

But there was no getting around that radio was “a tertiary medium,” Liggins said, “and if you wanted to really grow the platform to serve African-Americans you had to be in the places where they’re at – and they don’t just listen to radio.

“I’ve always looked at us as in the black people business and not just the media business. BET was wildly successful and there was only one of it, so I always wanted to get into the television business.”

The opportunity to enter the TV space came, he said, when “Comcast decided they wanted to expand in content, and I went in and made a big pitch to them.

“I said, ‘Look, I know we’ve never done television before, but we know how to market and program to black people. You have the distribution, but we’ll put up all the money.’

Lots of people were wanting to start a cable network, but they wanted Comcast to put up all the money. Eventually, $134 million was raised. Comcast invested $15 million in it. They got a big piece of the company just for giving us the distribution. We invested $74 million and I raised another $30 million from people I had done business with before. That’s how we got started in TV.”

The once monolithic TV industry, he said, “is disintermediating now with cord cutting” and streaming.

“We’re trying to figure out how to pay for and deliver more content and what other distribution opportunities or systems there are for us to monetize that content.”

To hedge against media volatility, the company’s diversified into the casino gaming business with partners MGM and a casino resort in D.C.

“It’s been a great investment for us,” Liggins said.

Meanwhile, the radio business that’s been the foundation of the company, he said, is “a declining, mature legacy media business that probably will have further consolidation.” He added, “We’ve got to figure out what our role in that is.”

Urban One carries “a lot of debt,” he said, “because we piled up a bunch of debt buying radio stations over the years, and then when the Internet hit all traditional media took a hit – print taking the worst of the brunt.”

“Our debt’s come way down but still not low enough, so were continuing to reduce our leverage. We’ve been buying back stock for 10 years, which is good, because we’ve been buying it back at low prices and paying down debt. Hopefully, we’ll make that transition to the new media ecosystem and have a reasonable level of debt and have increased holdings for the shareholders who decided not to sell.”

Then there’s the new phenomenon of black culture and content being in great demand.

“Everyone wants to be in that space,” Liggins said, “which makes it more competitive for us because we’re up against big guys like Viacom, A&E, HBO, Warner. Everybody’s got black content, and some of these players have got a lot more money than we do, so we’ve got to be smart and nimble in what we produce and how we finance it.”

He’s arrived at a leadership style that suits him.

“I’m an information-gatherer. I ask a lot of questions of a lot of people and I throw a lot of ideas on the wall. Then I debate them with folks. Even though I ask people a lot of questions I’m not necessarily a manager by consensus all the time. I’ll take that info and chart the path. I’m a big believer in hiring people who know more than I do in certain areas and have skill sets I don’t.

“When we were building the radio company, I made a point of hiring people who had worked for larger radio companies. People we brought in taught us about research and disciplined programming and sales techniques, so I’m a big believer in importing knowledge. What happens in a family business when it’s the only place you’ve really worked at is that you don’t know what you don’t know. You have to import that knowledge in order to grow the business.”

He nurtures the team he’s cultivated around him.

“I try to be collegial in my style with folks even though like my mother I can be very direct. Some people may say I’m aloof. I would say generally though the people who work with me like working with me. I nurture a positive relationship with those people.

“Sometimes when you have to ask people to do difficult things or you have to address negative issues or shortcomings it’s better if it’s coming from a place of constructive criticism in a joint goal as opposed to an ego-driven place where you’re trying to prove your smarter than that person.”

Ego has no place in his business approach.

“In a corporate environment I could see where infighting could cause managers to want to make sure they get credit for the idea and they look like they’re the smartest person in the room – because they want to get that next promotion. Well, fortunately, being in your own business I don’t have to worry about that. I’m more focused on just getting to the right answer and I don’t care who gets the credit.”

Liggins, a single father of one son, acknowledges he’s given some thought to a third generation in this family legacy business.

“It would be great. My son’s 10. He talks as if he wants to. It’s still early on. He’s got to earn his way into that, too. But I like the idea that he would want to follow in our footsteps. But it’s up to me he’s got a company to even consider taking over by the time he comes of age.

“I’m still trying to navigate our transition in the media business – reducing our leverage so the company isn’t at risk and so it is set up for the future.”

Whatever happens, Omaha remains home for him and his mother – a reality impressed upon him when they visited last spring.

“It’s like you come full circle. This is where we both recognize we’re from. We’ve got deep roots there. There’s a track record of successful African-Americans from that community. We’ve always come back.

“To have a street named in her honor is a big deal. You feel like your business career and your life have meant something. It was an amazing experience.”

(Read more of Leo Adam Biga’s work at leoadambiga.com.)

Oakland Post

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The hidden risks of poor water management in residential properties

Poor water management in residential properties can result in structural damage, health risks, and long-term financial strain. Water is the most important resource for any country, and having access to clean drinking water should be a right that needs to be preserved. Unfortunately, we are noticing a trend in the US right now where poor water […]

Published

4 days ago

April 17, 2026

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Poor water management in residential properties can result in structural damage, health risks, and long-term financial strain.

Water is the most important resource for any country, and having access to clean drinking water should be a right that needs to be preserved. Unfortunately, we are noticing a trend in the US right now where poor water management in residential properties is becoming more common.

It’s not even just access to water that gets affected when residential water management isn’t made a priority. It can result in issues with major leaks and flooding events, which affect the health and safety of residents.

Gradual Structural Damage

The worst thing about flooding or water leaks is the gradual structural damage that real estate investors have to deal with. Water can seep into materials like:

Wood
Drywall
Concrete

It can do so over time, drop by drop, and eventually cause significant damage to these structures.

A slow leak behind a wall or under a floor may go unnoticed for months, gradually compromising the integrity of the structure. Over time, this can lead to:

Warped floors
Cracked foundations
Weakened support beams

If you aren’t interested in spending hundreds or thousands of dollars to repair your residential properties, then it’s important to focus on water management in your annual plan.

Mold and Indoor Air Quality Issues

Excess moisture creates the perfect growing environment for mold. Within 24 to 48 hours, mold can start developing in damp conditions, and it often does so in hidden places like:

Behind walls
Under carpets
Poorly ventilated areas

Mold is a health hazard, especially for the very young and very old, and those who have a compromised immune system. Indoor air quality starts degrading very fast when mold growth happens, which can result in allergies, asthma, and other respiratory conditions.

Addressing mold problems can be both complicated and expensive, often requiring professional remediation to fully eliminate the issue.

Increased Utility Costs

If you notice that your utility bills have gone up in recent weeks or months, without any corresponding difference in tenants or temperature, it could be due to a water leak. Malfunctioning fixtures can also cause an increase in utility costs.

Even small, continuous leaks can add up to substantial water loss, making regular inspections and maintenance essential. That’s why paying attention to water management is so crucial for any real estate investor.

Foundation and Drainage Problems

Proper drainage is crucial to protecting a home’s foundation. Water needs to be directed away from the property, and if not done so, then it can accumulate around the base of a structure. This can lead to soil erosion, foundation cracks, and even basement flooding.

Clogged gutters, improper grading, and inadequate drainage systems are common contributors to these issues. All of these have to be addressed to prevent long-term damage to your foundation and prevent expensive repair bills that eat away at your budget.

Professional eavestrough installers are necessary to ensure rainwater stays away from your foundation and moves away from the property properly.

Pest Infestations

No homeowner or investor wants pests in their residential properties. It’s not good for the health of the residents, nor is it good for the reputation of the properties in attracting future tenants.

Moist environments often attract pests such as:

Termites
Rodents
Insects

Standing water or damp areas provide ideal conditions for these unwanted guests to thrive.

Once pests are established in your property, they will start causing further damage by eating away at certain structures. To get rid of them requires expensive pest control services and takes time.

Insurance and Financial Implications

Even though insurance does cover certain types of water damage, it doesn’t cover all forms of water damage, and thus, you might end up paying out of pocket in certain cases.

Damage resulting from neglect or lack of maintenance is often excluded from coverage. That’s why it’s so important to apply water management strategies to all of your residential properties.

If you wish to sell your property later, then it’s important to be very cognizant of water damage, as buyers will conduct inspections that could alert them to such water damage and prevent your home from selling in the future.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are Some Preventive Measures for Water Management?

There are many home safety tips you can follow to ensure your home stays safe from water damage.

Regularly inspecting plumbing systems, cleaning gutters, and ensuring proper drainage can help identify problems early. Installing moisture detectors, maintaining appliances, and addressing leaks promptly are also effective strategies.

You can also hire a water damage specialist and have them take a look at your home to ensure nothing untoward is going on, especially if you notice a major change in your utility bills.

How Does Water Damage Interior Spaces?

Water damage can occur without the home dwellers noticing it. In some cases, the water damage to interior spaces is very apparent, as when the ceilings start sagging or the walls and ceilings develop water stains.

You might also notice the floors rotting or warping.

In addition to structural concerns, water damage can ruin personal belongings such as:

Furniture
Electronics
Important documents

The emotional and financial cost of replacing these items can be significant.

Nothing good comes out of water damage, but it’s highly preventable if you only take the steps mentioned above. Do not become lazy or complacent in this situation. It could be the difference between saving hundreds of dollars in water damage bills and not.

Protect Yourself From the Risks of Water Damage

Not everyone places such a priority on water management, and that’s a shame. It’s truly when you are dealing with water damage that you regret this decision.

Residential water management can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars in bills in the future. It’s worth the time and resources you place upon it.

By staying vigilant and adopting proactive maintenance habits, homeowners can protect their properties and protect their investment from degrading into a money-sucking pile of stones.

Please check out related articles on our website for more interesting articles on a wide variety of subjects.

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Black Micro-Schools Deserve Recognition: NABML Creates National Standards and Resources

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE: Black families are the fastest-growing demographic in alternative education. Discover how the National Association of Black Micro School Leaders is providing educators with resources, training, and certification to launch thriving microschools.

Published

5 days ago

April 16, 2026

Oakland Post

by Dawn Montgomery
BlackPressUSA Contributor

Public school advocates and politicians typically spearhead the attack on microschools, focusing on their perceived “lack of oversight and public accountability.” Yet Black families are the fastest-growing demographic in alternative education. This shift is driven by the recognition that traditional public education cannot change quickly enough to serve its children’s needs. The National Association of Black Micro-School Leaders is an organization working to counter this narrative and fill a critical gap. Nicole Stewart, the founder, told The Carolinian that “Black families are the fastest-growing group in alternative education, but Black microschool founders have had no national home, no unified voice, no shared resources, and no collective power.”

Nicole Stewart, a former educator with nearly 20 years of experience in public education, retired to start her education consulting company and later opened her own school. That experience led her to discover microschools. Stewart advocates for a balance between joy and rigor in education, designing learning experiences that honor identity, strength, and purpose. She understands that microschools can be tailored to address the specific needs of the families and communities they serve.

The oversight criticism is legitimate. This concern is precisely why NABML is establishing the national benchmark for community-led education. NABML’s certification is that seal of approval, signaling to families, funders, and policymakers that a school is not merely functioning but is outstanding. Additionally, the organization emphasizes the importance of legal structures, fiscal stewardship frameworks, and community involvement as foundational to sustainability and accountability.

NABML realizes this vision via four main support systems:

Community Design Day: NABML facilitates a process in which the neighborhood tells us what its children deserve. You get to explore new learning approaches and define educational priorities for your community. A community task force is then formed to implement these ideas, and NABML supports you along the way. This creates a space where you can be a part of the process as a founding member of a microschool.

Founders Launch Lab: This professional development experience equips Black microschool founders and educational leaders with the training, operational, and strategic skills to launch and sustain thriving schools. Participants gain the business acumen and pedagogical frameworks necessary to navigate the transition from traditional educator roles to entrepreneurial school leaders.

Membership (The Vault): Members gain instant, 24/7 access to proprietary legal templates, student handbook builders, fiscal stewardship frameworks, and zoning blueprints designed specifically for the microschool model. They also join a curated community of mission-aligned founders through monthly “Brilliance Circles” and a private digital forum. Membership unlocks the NABML Fund, a curated capital pool designed specifically for the network, removing a major barrier to school launch and sustainability.

Certification: This is the seal of approval that tells families, funders, and policymakers that your school isn’t just operating; it is also excelling. NABML is currently developing the national benchmark for community-led education, making sure that certified schools meet rigorous standards for student outcomes, community engagement, and fiscal responsibility.

Whether you’re a parent seeking educational alternatives, an educator ready to launch a microschool, or a policymaker committed to expanding equitable education options, NABML invites you to be part of this transformation.

Ready to start or support a microschool? Visit https://nabml.org/ to learn more, access resources, or join the Founders Launch Lab.

Want to invest in Black educational futures? Make a donation at https://secure.qgiv.com/for/naobml/ to support founders in building schools that serve their communities.

Every microschool launched is a community transformed. Every founder supported is a generation of Black children empowered to thrive.

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IN MEMORIAM: Rest in Power — Minnesota Loses a True Warrior in Yusef Mgeni

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN RECORDER — Yusef Mgeni, a brilliant historian, community organizer, former St. Paul educator and fierce advocate for Black people, died on April 7, 2026, leaving behind a legacy that will echo through generations of Black Minnesota history and community building.

Published

6 days ago

April 15, 2026

admin

By MSR News Online

Minnesota and the world lost a powerful voice and a true warrior on April 7, 2026. Yusef Mgeni is gone, but his legacy will echo for generations.

Yusef was a brilliant historian, a community organizer, a former St. Paul educator, and a fierce advocate for Black people. He carried with him an extraordinary archive of speeches, books, articles, and photographs documenting the work of countless Black scholars and leaders. His knowledge was not just deep. It was generational. Talk to him about any subject concerning Black history, and he would give you a dissertation.

His roots in this community ran deeper than most people knew. Yusef was the grandnephew of Fredrick McGhee, the pioneering 20th-century civil rights activist and attorney who made his mark in St. Paul at the turn of the century. That lineage was not lost on Yusef. He carried it forward with pride and purpose, spending decades making sure the stories of Black Minnesotans were told, preserved, and passed on.

As a journalist, Yusef called NAACP leaders and community figures to identify the issues that mattered most to Black people and wrote about them in local newspapers. He was a contributor to the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, a platform he understood and respected deeply. As a former St. Paul NAACP vice president, he remained active and engaged well into his retirement, answering emails and voicemails for residents who were at their wits’ end, helping them navigate evictions, legal challenges, and systemic barriers.

“Generally, they contact us when they are at their wits’ end,” he once said. “They are going to get evicted; their car is getting repossessed. We assist in navigating the system.”

His work was always about access. Under his leadership and alongside other NAACP leaders, the St. Paul chapter helped establish a landmark covenant between the police and the St. Paul community in 2001, a model that contributed to dramatically lower excessive-force costs than in Minneapolis in the decade that followed.

Yusef was also a passionate champion of ethnic studies in Minnesota’s schools, understanding that education rooted in Black and Brown history was not a supplement to American history but central to it.

“Ethnic studies is also American history,” he said. “The fact that the legislature and the MDE have both endorsed ethnic studies requirements in schools is a real plus for giving people the opportunity to explore and learn more about American history, and more importantly, to see themselves reflected in that learning.”

In the 1970s and ’80s, Yusef worked alongside Mrs. Clarissa Walker at the Sabathani Community Center, where they poured their energy into uplifting and empowering the community. Their work helped shape the cultural and political landscape of South Minneapolis during a critical era. They were part of a generation that built institutions, nurtured young people, and fought for justice with unwavering commitment.

Yusef also played a key role in the early development of KMOJ Radio, helping to establish a platform that amplified Black voices long before it was common or convenient. His activism extended through education, the St. Paul NAACP, the Million Man March, and the Urban Coalition, always rooted in a deep and abiding love for his people.

He was also an interviewee in the Rondo neighborhood oral history project preserved by the Minnesota Historical Society, ensuring that the voices and stories of that community would never be lost.

Not long ago, a colleague was blessed to sit with Yusef at his home, where he reflected on his life and his legacy. He talked about his work in education, his activism, and his years of service to the community. But what stood out just as much was how he spoke about his family and his people, with warmth, with pride, and with purpose.

Today, we honor him not only for what he accomplished but for the spirit with which he did it.

A scholar. A builder. A warrior. A keeper of our stories.

Thank you, Yusef, for everything you gave and everything you sacrificed on behalf of Black people. Your legacy stands tall, and our community is better because of you.

Rest in Power, Yusef Mgeni.