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The Forgotten Legacy of The Black Man Who Blazed a Trail for Stephen A. Smith and Others to Make Millions

NNPA NEWSWIRE — While today’s hosts thrive on multi-million-dollar contracts and extensive coverage, Rust’s era was vastly different. Before the 1980s, sports talk radio and general sports coverage were limited to brief segments on the evening news and sporadic radio shows. Salaries barely covered the gas and tolls it took to arrive at a dusty Manhattan studio.
The post The Forgotten Legacy of The Black Man Who Blazed a Trail for Stephen A. Smith and Others to Make Millions first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 years ago

December 8, 2023

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

In the glitzy world of sports talk radio, where mega-contracts make headlines and charismatic hosts dominate the airwaves, there is an unsung pioneer whose name rarely echoes through the halls of fame. As Tom Brady secured an industry-leading $375 million contract with Fox Sports, surpassing his legendary playing career earnings, and Jim Rome and Stephen A. Smith rake in tens of millions annually, there’s rarely a nod to the trailblazer who laid the foundation for this now lucrative profession — Art Rust Jr. Rust was born in Harlem on October 13, 1927, and died in 2010 at 82. He was a maverick who changed the game of sports broadcasting. A graduate of Long Island University, Rust embarked on his broadcasting journey in the 1950s at New York radio station WWRL. His career included stints at WNBC, WMCA, and WINS Radio before he emerged as a pivotal figure with his groundbreaking show, “Sports Talk.”

While today’s hosts thrive on multi-million-dollar contracts and extensive coverage, Rust’s era was vastly different. Before the 1980s, sports talk radio and general sports coverage were limited to brief segments on the evening news and sporadic radio shows. Salaries barely covered the gas and tolls it took to arrive at a dusty Manhattan studio. Rust’s “Sports Talk” was a game-changer, giving fans a platform to engage in conversation for three hours every night. Not to mention, guests would include legends like Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston, and Joe DiMaggio. The “Walking Encyclopedia of Sports” finally had his moment in the spotlight during the tumultuous 1981 player/owner strike in baseball. Initially hired to host the Yankees Pre-Game show, Rust was on air every night from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. during the summer strike, which birthed an all-sports talk radio show that captivated disheartened baseball fans and laid the groundwork for the likes of WFAN, which emerged in 1988 with an all-white crew and not even a mention or an invitation to Rust.

“Unlike today’s Sports Radio format, ‘The Art Rust Jr. Show’ was a lot more fan-friendly,” noted Steven C. Owens in an earlier piece for Medium. Rust’s wife, Edna, was an integral part of his journey, and her sudden passing in 1986 led him to honor her memory at the end of each show with a heartfelt “Good Night, Edna Baby.” Rust’s impact remains undeniable. While Sirius XM’s Chris Russo, who got his big break at WFAN alongside Mike Francesca, and others raked in millions, Rust set the stage for their success. Steve Somers, a host at WFAN, acknowledged Rust’s role in shaping the station. “He certainly set the groundwork and the foundation for WFAN,” Somers asserted. Rust affectionately referred to left-handed pitchers as “portsiders” and Yankee Stadium as “the big ball orchard in the South Bronx.” In his 1976 book, “Get That N****r Off the Field!” he recounted experiences of being a Black man in the world of baseball, highlighting the racial challenges he faced.

Longtime listener Alex Belth recalled listening to Rust in the early 1980s, and how he tried to get up the nerves to call in and ask if Reggie Jackson would hit 500 home runs. “For years, I listened to Art Rust Jr. His voice was knowing and sure,” Belth recalled. “I felt safe in his company. Yeah, and Reggie got those 500 dingers, too.” In an era where sports talk hosts command staggering salaries, there’s little reminder of Rust, a Black man who sowed the seeds that both white and Black sportscasters are reaping. Some equate today’s hosts with baseball players who fail to recognize former St. Louis Cardinal great Curt Flood.

Flood won seven consecutive Gold Glove Awards beginning in ’63 and hit better than .300 in six of his 12 years with St. Louis. Flood was also a key contributor to the Cardinals’ 1964 and ’67 World Series championship clubs. Flood who, upon being traded to the Phillies on October 7, 1969, took a stand that would effectively end his career and change the sport forever. He penned a letter to Commissioner Bowie Kuhn in which Flood began his fight against the reserve clause, which bound a player to one team unless that club chose to trade or release that player. Free Agency didn’t exist, so Flood decided to challenge the system. After Kuhn refused to grant Flood free agency, Flood filed a lawsuit against the Commissioner and MLB, alleging a violation of antitrust laws. The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972, and justices ruled 5-3, in favor of MLB. No active players stepped out to testify—or even attend—the trial in support of Flood.

However, in 1976, the reserve clause disintegrated, and the groundwork for free agency as we know it today was laid. “The fact that Curt Flood, one of the best all-around players of his generation, was willing to risk it all for others is one of the greatest displays of personal sacrifice known to the sports world,” said Tony Clark, the executive director of the MLB Players Association, in an interview with MLB Network. Flood’s fight forever transformed baseball economics. The average salary of an MLB player in 2023 was $4.9 million, or about ten times the amount Flood made over his entire 15-year career. Art Rust Jr. is their Curt Flood for those hosting talk shows about baseball and other sports. And, like most baseball players who reap the spoils of modern economics thanks to Flood, sports talk show hosts rarely, if ever, extend a thank you to Rust.

The post The Forgotten Legacy of The Black Man Who Blazed a Trail for Stephen A. Smith and Others to Make Millions first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Stacy M. Brown

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LIVE from the NMA Convention Raheem DeVaughn Says The Time Is Now: Let’s End HIV in Our Communities #2

Set against the backdrop of the NMA conference, Executive Officers from the National Medical Association, Grammy Award Winning Artist and Advocate Raheem DeVaughn, and Gilead Sciences experts, are holding today an important conversation on HIV prevention and health equity. Black women continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV despite advances in prevention options. Today’s event […]

Published

7 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

Black women continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV despite advances in prevention options. Today’s event is designed to uplift voices, explore barriers to access, and increase awareness and key updates about PrEP, a proven prevention method that remains underutilized among Black women. This timely gathering will feature voices from across health, media, and advocacy as we break stigma and center equity in HIV prevention.

Additional stats and information to know:

● Black women continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV, with Black women representing more than 50% of new HIV diagnoses among women in the U.S. in 2022, despite comprising just 13% of women in the U.S.

● Women made up only 8% of PrEP users despite representing 19% of all new HIV diagnoses in 2022.

● Gilead Sciences is increasing awareness and addressing stigma by encouraging regular HIV testing and having judgment-free conversations with your healthcare provider about prevention options, including oral PrEP and long-acting injectable PrEP options.

● PrEP is an HIV prevention medication that has been available since 2012.

● Only 1 in 3 people in the U.S. who could benefit from PrEP were prescribed a form of PrEP in 2022.

Oakland Post

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TRUMP: “Washington, D.C. is Safe”

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — President Trump, who typically travels with a full contingent of high-level protection, insinuated that he finally felt safe enough to go to dinner in the District of Columbia. “My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years,” said the nation’s 47th president.

Published

7 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

By Apriil Ryan
BlackPressUSA Washington Bureau Chief and White House Correspondent

“Washington, D.C. is safe,” President Trump declared from the Oval Office today. Those words came while Trump was hosting Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During the question-and-answer session, which primarily focused on a peace deal in the Russian-Ukrainian war, Trump explained, “You did that in four days.” He was speaking of how fast the National Guard quelled the violence in what was once called Chocolate City.

The President deployed the National Guard to D.C. a week ago, to a city with reduced crime rates over the previous year. Violent crime dropped by 26%, marking the lowest level in 30 years. Homicides also fell by 11%.

President Trump, who typically travels with a full contingent of high-level protection, insinuated that he finally felt safe enough to go to dinner in the District of Columbia. “My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years,” said the nation’s 47th president.

Trump reinforced his claim about the newly acquired safety in D.C. by relaying that a friend’s son is attending dinner in D.C., something he would not have done last year.

After the president finished his comments, a reporter/commentator in the room with close connections to Marjorie Taylor Greene jumped into the high-level conversation to affirm the president’s comments, saying, “I walked around yesterday with MTG. If you can walk around D.C. with MTG and not be attacked, this city is safe.”

That reporter was the same person who chastised President Zelenskyy months ago during his first Oval Office meeting with Trump for not wearing a business suit. Zelenskyy, a wartime President, has been clad in less formal attire to reflect the country’s current war stance against Russia.

Without any sourcing, President Trump also said, “People that haven’t gone out to dinner in Washington, D.C., in two years are going out to dinner, and the restaurants the last two days have been busier than they’ve been in a long time.”

The increase in policing in Washington, D.C. is because a 19-year-old former Doge employee was carjacked in the early hours of the morning recently.

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Rising Energy Costs Weigh Heaviest on Black Households

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — For many African American families, the cost of keeping the lights on and homes heated or cooled is not just a monthly bill — it’s a crushing financial burden.

Published

7 days ago

February 3, 2026

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

For many African American families, the cost of keeping the lights on and homes heated or cooled is not just a monthly bill — it’s a crushing financial burden.

A new national study from Binghamton University and California State University, San Bernardino, finds that Black households spend a far larger share of their income on energy compared to white households, even when income levels are the same. “We often say that African Americans suffer more, but we often blame it just on income. And the reality is, there is something more there,” study author George Homsy, associate professor at Binghamton University, wrote. “It’s not just because they tend to be poor. There is something that’s putting them at a disadvantage. I think what happened is it happens to be where they live.” The study, published in Energy Research & Social Science, analyzed 65,000 census tracts across the United States. It found that while the average American household spends about 3.2% of income on energy bills, households in the majority African American census tracts spend an average of 5.1%.

Homsy and researcher Ki Eun Kang point to the age and condition of housing stock, along with lower homeownership rates, as key drivers. Their research concludes that “energy burden is not simply a matter of income or energy cost but also race, which might be driven by place.” Older, less energy-efficient housing and high rental rates in Black communities mean residents often cannot make upgrades like improved insulation or new appliances, locking families into higher bills.

Tradeoffs and Health Risks

The consequences go beyond money. Families forced to spend 10% or more of their income on energy — what experts classify as “unmanageable” — may cut back on food, medicine, or other essentials. More than 12 million U.S. households report leaving their homes at unsafe temperatures to reduce costs, while millions more fall behind on utility bills. The health effects are severe. High energy burdens increase risks of asthma, depression, poor sleep, pneumonia, and even premature death. The issue is especially acute for African Americans, who are disproportionately exposed to housing and environmental conditions that amplify these risks.

Washington, D.C.: A Case Study

In Washington, D.C., the problem is particularly stark. A recent analysis by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) shows that SNAP-eligible households spend more than 20% of their income on energy bills. Across the metro area, nearly two-thirds of low-income households devote over 6% of their income to energy, and 40% face what researchers call a “severe financial strain,” paying more than 10%. Pepco, the District’s primary electricity provider, has implemented three consecutive annual rate hikes, pushing the average household bill to $114 per month as of January 2025. Shutoffs have followed — nearly 12,000 customers lost service in 2024, with disconnections doubling after a summer rate hike. Washington Gas has also sought a 12% rate increase and pushed a controversial $215 million pipeline replacement project, rebranded as “District SAFE.” The plan could ultimately cost D.C. households an additional $45,000 each over several decades, or nearly $1,000 annually added to bills.

Historical Roots

Researchers argue that these inequities are not accidental but rooted in history. The ScienceDirect study reveals that African American communities living in formerly redlined neighborhoods continue to face disadvantages today — from poor housing quality to higher climate risks. Homsy says policymakers must make targeted efforts. “It is harder to get to rental units where a lot of poor people live,” he noted. “We need to work harder to get into these communities of color.”