Utrice Leid facts for kids

Utrice C. Leid (born around 1953) is a journalist and former activist from Trinidad and Tobago who also became an American citizen. She was involved in the Civil Rights Movement, which worked for equal rights for all people. Utrice Leid was a top editor for The City Sun newspaper and managed the New York radio station WBAI. In 2004, a newspaper called The Miami Herald said she was proud of never working for big, well-known news companies during her 34 years in journalism. Today, Utrice Leid hosts a show called Leid Stories on the Progressive Radio Network.

Early Life and Career Beginnings

Utrice Leid was born in Princes Town, Trinidad, as the seventh child in her family. When she was 18, she moved to the United States and went to Adelphi University. She later went back to Trinidad and Tobago to study what happened after a failed attempt to take over the government. However, the government took her notes, so she decided to move back to the United States.

Utrice Leid started working at the New York Amsterdam News newspaper. In 1977, she and a writer from that newspaper, Andrew W. Cooper, started their own news company called Trans-Urban News Service (TUNS). TUNS helped train young journalists from minority groups. It also created news stories that were important to their communities. In 1979, TUNS won a top award for a series of stories about problems between different groups of people in Crown Heights.

Leading the News: The City Sun

In 1984, Utrice Leid and Andrew Cooper started The City Sun. This was a weekly newspaper that focused on topics important to African Americans in New York City. By 1987, The City Sun printed about 18,500 copies each week.

Utrice Leid left the newspaper in 1992 after a disagreement with Cooper. Some people said she wanted to be fully in charge of the paper, but he said no. Utrice Leid said she left because Cooper was making the newspaper's circulation numbers seem higher than they were. Readers of The City Sun said the newspaper published its most important stories when Leid was there. They also felt it became less interesting after she left.

Working in Radio: WBAI

In 1993, Utrice Leid began working at WBAI, a radio station. She hosted a talk radio show called Talkback!. The New York Daily News newspaper said her show had "serious talk" and that Utrice Leid covered many different topics. The Daily News also mentioned that she sometimes gave her listeners "homework" to think about.

On December 22, 2000, the leaders of Pacifica Radio, which owned WBAI, removed the station's manager. They asked Utrice Leid to take over. Two other long-time staff members were also let go. Utrice Leid and Pacifica's director changed the locks at the radio station. These changes caused many protests with over 1,000 people involved. This event became known as the "Christmas Coup."

In March 2001, Utrice Leid stopped an interview with Congressmember Major Owens on air. She said that "lies have been told" and started playing music instead. Later that year, Utrice Leid resigned from her position at WBAI in December.

Life in Florida

In 2002, Utrice Leid moved to Florida. In 2004, she became the editor of The Broward Times. This was a weekly newspaper that focused on topics important to African Americans and people of Caribbean descent in Broward County.