Utrice Leid
{{Infobox person
| name = Utrice C. Leid
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| birthname =
| birth_date = c. 1953
| birth_place = Princes Town, Trinidad and Tobago
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| education =
| occupation = Journalist
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| credits = Trans-Urban News Service,
The City Sun,
WBAI
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}}
Utrice C. Leid (born c. 1953) is a Trinidadian American, former activist in the Civil Rights Movement, and journalist. She was the managing editor of The City Sun and general manager of New York radio station WBAI. In 2004, The Miami Herald wrote that she "prides herself on never working in the mainstream media during her 34 years of journalism".{{cite web |url=http://www.maynardije.org:8080/sites/mije/columns/dickprince/040312_prince/ |title=Outspoken Utrice Leid Surfaces in Florida |last=Prince |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Prince (journalist) |publisher=Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education |date=March 12, 2004 |access-date=February 8, 2010 }}
Leid is the host of Leid Stories on Progressive Radio Network.{{cite web | url=https://monthlyreview.org/press/gerald-horne-utrice-leid-on-leid-stories-prn-fm/ | title=Monthly Review | Gerald Horne & Utrice Leid on "Leid Stories," PRN.FM | date=13 August 2020 }}
Life and career
Leid was born in Princes Town, Trinidad, the seventh child of Claude and Gertrude Leid. When she was 18, Leid came to the United States and attended Adelphi University.{{cite web |url=http://everything2.com/title/Utrice+Leid |title=Utrice Leid |publisher=Everything2 |date=November 14, 2002 |access-date=February 8, 2010 }}{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/wbaifoliomarapr95wbairich |title=Folio |publisher=Pacifica Radio |page=8 |format=PDF |date=March–April 1995 |access-date=February 8, 2010 }} She returned to Trinidad and Tobago, where she spent nine months investigating the aftermath of an unsuccessful coup d'état. Leid's research was cut short when the government seized her notes. She decided to move back to the United States.
Leid worked as a receptionist at the New York Amsterdam News for six months, and in 1977 she and Andrew W. Cooper, a columnist at the newspaper, left to establish the Trans-Urban News Service (TUNS).{{cite web |url=http://www.answers.com/topic/andrew-w-cooper |title=Andrew W. Cooper |access-date=January 30, 2009 |publisher=Answers.com }}{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/17/nyregion/public-lives-a-firm-new-boss-at-an-old-voice-of-the-left.html |title=A Firm New Boss at an Old Voice of the Left |last=Richardson |first=Lynda |work=The New York Times |date=January 17, 2001 |access-date=February 8, 2010 }} TUNS trained minority journalists and produced reporting that was relevant to their communities. The Public Relations Society of America gave TUNS its top award in 1979 for its multi-part series on racial tensions between blacks and Jews in Crown Heights.{{cite web |url=http://aalbc.com/reviews/whydidthe_nyc_sun_matter.htm |title=Why did The City Sun (1984-1996) matter? |last=Dawkins |first=Wayne |publisher=African American Literature Book Club |access-date=February 8, 2010 }}
Cooper and Leid co-founded The City Sun, a weekly newspaper that covered issues of interest to African Americans in New York City, in 1984. According to The New York Times, The City Sun had a circulation of 18,500 in 1987.{{cite web |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE2DF143DF934A2575BC0A961948260 |title=Black Papers: Businesses With a Mission |last=Jones |first=Alex S. |date=August 17, 1987 |work=The New York Times |access-date=February 8, 2010 }} Leid resigned from the paper in 1992 after a dispute with Cooper.{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/09/nyregion/black-weekly-s-survival-is-in-question.html |title=Black Weekly's Survival Is in Question |last=Foderaro |first=Lisa W. |work=The New York Times |date=November 9, 1996 |access-date=February 8, 2010 }} By one account, she asked Cooper for complete control of the paper and he refused. By her account, Leid left because Cooper was inflating the newspaper's circulation. The New York Times reported that readers of The City Sun said the paper published "its most hard-hitting issues" during Leid's tenure, and that it "stopped being [a] must-read" after she left.
In 1993, Leid started working at WBAI, where she hosted a talk radio program called Talkback! The New York Daily News described the show as "serious talk" and said that Leid covered a wide range of topics. The Daily News also noted that Leid sometimes gave her listeners homework.{{cite web |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/1996/04/16/1996-04-16_wbai_s__talkback___a_leid-in.html |title=WBAI's 'Talkback': A Leid-Ing Voice on Talk Radio |last=Hinckley |first=David |date=April 16, 1996 |work=New York Daily News |access-date=February 8, 2010 }}
On December 22, 2000, the board of directors of Pacifica Radio, which controlled WBAI, removed the station's general manager and asked Leid to replace her. Two other long-time staff members were also dismissed. Leid and Pacifica's executive director changed the locks at the station's doors. The changes, which became known as the "Christmas Coup", prompted several protest demonstrations that involved more than 1,000 people.{{cite web |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2000/12/29/2000-12-29_shakeups_make_waves_at_wbai-.html |title=Shakeups Make Waves at WBAI-FM |last=Gonzalez |first=Juan |author-link=Juan Gonzalez (journalist) |date=December 29, 2000 |work=New York Daily News |access-date=February 8, 2010 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/07/nyregion/hundreds-protest-firings-at-wbai-fm.html |title=Hundreds Protest Firings at WBAI-FM |last=Blair |first=Jayson |author-link=Jayson Blair |date=January 7, 2001 |work=The New York Times |access-date=February 8, 2010 }}
On March 5, 2001, Leid interrupted an interview with Congressmember Major Owens, who was discussing the events at WBAI. "Lies have been told," she announced, and began to broadcast a music program.{{cite web |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2001-04-03/news/wbai-beijing-radio-new-york/http |title=WBAI: Beijing Radio, New York |last=Hentoff |first=Nat |author-link=Nat Hentoff |date=April 3, 2001 |work=The Village Voice |access-date=February 8, 2010 }} In August, Amy Goodman, the host of WBAI's Democracy Now!, said that Leid had shoved her during a heated discussion.{{cite web |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/2001/08/15/2001-08-15__bai_dissident_hides_out.html |title='BAI Dissident Hides Out |last=Hinckley |first=David |date=August 15, 2001 |work=New York Daily News |access-date=February 8, 2010 }} By late 2001, several groups of listeners and dissident radio hosts sued the Pacifica board. The board settled the lawsuits and agreed to grant more autonomy to WBAI.{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/13/nyregion/pacifica-owner-of-wbai-fm-settles-lawsuits.html |title=Pacifica, Owner of WBAI-FM, Settles Lawsuits |last=Worth |first=Robert F. |date=December 13, 2001 |work=The New York Times |access-date=February 8, 2010 }} Leid resigned her position in December.{{cite news |title=Trouble Still Brews at WBAI |last=Boyd |first=Herb |author-link=Herb Boyd |date=December 26, 2001 |work=New York Amsterdam News |id = {{ProQuest|390136898}}}} {{subscription required|via=ProQuest}}
In 2002 Leid moved to Florida, and in 2004 she became editor of The Broward Times, a weekly newspaper that focused on issues of interest to African Americans and Afro-Caribbean Americans in Broward County.
References
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Category:Adelphi University alumni
Category:Activists for African-American civil rights
Category:American people of Trinidad and Tobago descent
Category:Trinidad and Tobago journalists
Category:Trinidad and Tobago women journalists
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)