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Destination Freedom: A Historic Radio Series About Black Life

From 1948 to 1950, NBC’s Chicago affiliate, WMAQ, aired a unique, half-hour long weekly drama series. Destination Freedom featured tales of contemporary and historic black leaders representing a wide range of careers and accomplishments. The series’ creator and sole scriptwriter, Richard Durham (1917–1984), lyrically demonstrated how each of his subjects, in their own way, advocated for freedom, justice, and equality. Durham earned numerous awards for his series, including posthumous induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame (2007). After Destination Freedom’s demise, Durham worked as a labor organizer, newspaper editor, television scriptwriter, credited ghostwriter for boxer Muhammad Ali, and speechwriter/campaign strategist for Harold Washington, Chicago’s first black mayor. The following article examines the creative energy and political struggles Durham navigated to bring his more than 90 Destination Freedom radio dramas to life. This essay is excerpted from Word Warrior: Richard Durham, Radio, and Freedom. Copyright 2015 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, and used with the permission of the University of Illinois Press.