Mourning the passing of Eddie Ellis

  New York City generally and Brooklyn particularly has long been unaffordable for all but the most inveterate city-dwellers. So, after graduate school at Buffalo State College, I sought my fortune elsewhere; first, in Delaware before settling in Maryland (where I now live - albeit tenuously - on the Eastern Shore. And though that is little excuse for no longer listening to WBAI, after station management inscrutably cancelled the “Caldwell Chronicles,” the inexplicable cancellation became my line in the sand nonetheless. And I lost interest in ‘BAI programming. So, when I learned that famed radio personality Bob Law now hosted a show – i.e., “On the Streets” - on Saturday mornings, I returned grudgingly to the station line-up to listen.

   I tuned in a tad bit early because the NAN livestream with Rev. Al Sharpton was winding down. “On the Count” was doing its outro and something the current host said alarmed me. He referenced producer and host Eddie Ellis in the past tense. Stunned and incredulous, I raced to the WBAI URL to learn to my utter disbelief that my brother Eddie Ellis had passed away in 2014. What a tremendous lost to the ‘BAI family. And may I offer my belated condolences. Eddie was a champion for “returning citizens.”

   Like many black men, I spent my share of time in the state’s most brutal – e.g., Attica, Clinton, Green Haven and Sing Sing – prisons before (as Amari Baraka once wrote) I “got a sense of [myself…]” That was thirty-five years ago, though. And I have never looked back from those experiences. But unlike me, Eddie had the courage to talk about his experiences as both an offender and ex-offender unapologetically. And, more importantly, provide a roadmap to success for people returning to the community. And though I am certain this mission is being carried on by the current hosts of “On the Count,” Eddie set the mold. And he cannot be replaced.