An Interview with Kevin Elkins: Montgomery’s “Mayor of the Airwaves”

Volume 7, Issue 5, May 2008

An Interview with Kevin Elkins: Montgomery’s “Mayor of the Airwaves”

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Josh Carples
Managing Editor
Capital City Free Press

Kevin Elkins is known around Montgomery, Alabama for two things – his radio show “First Call with Kevin Elkins” and his business, Computer Commuter. What many people may not know is how he came to be one of the city’s most well-known radio hosts.

Elkins came to Montgomery in 1991 from his Army post in Hawaii, and once in Montgomery he landed a job as a “repo man.” Repossessing people’s items, especially furniture, because they were late on a couple of weeks payments wore on his conscience, and he ended up working for 1170 AM WACV in Montgomery with Don Markwell.

In 2000, he moved over to News Radio 1440 AM, a Cumulus station, to host “First Call.” He has worked with computers since 1994, getting training from a company called Alabama Computer Associates. He likes working with computers because “it’s kind of like talk radio – it’s not boring.”

Those familiar with “First Call” will know that the subject of race comes up often. While race problems still exist, Elkins believes that race relations are getting better. “Years ago, we all had an enemy. We knew who the enemy was. It was black against white. Now, it’s an ideology that we fight. It’s a philosophy that we fight,” says Elkins. “If it was all about race, you wouldn’t have black people helping white people and white people helping black people.”

“It is not about color. It’s about courage – the courage to stand for what you believe, even if people don’t agree with you.”

Elkins says the reason some people are still caught up on race, rather than ideology, is because “our education system fails our children when it comes to critical thinking and analytical skills. It’s easier to make an excuse than to analyze the problem and come up with a solution.”

To help focus on ideology rather than race, Elkins says, “White people have to stop being intimidated by somebody because they threaten to sue you. We’ve got to stop letting some black folks be hypocrites. We’ve got to get to a point where we start judging everybody – like Martin Luther King said – by the content of their character.”

Asked about his thoughts on the talk radio industry, Elkins says, “Talk radio is a necessary medium. It’s one of the few places today where you can actually say what’s on your mind without fear of repercussion.”

In Montgomery, with the exception of a few hosts, much talk radio is nationally syndicated. Elkins says, “It’s always good when you get a diversity of ideas.”

Another subject that has come up on his show many times is the Montgomery public school system. He says, “Unless things change dramatically, my child will not be going to public schools.” However, he also adds that he has hope and that John Dilworth, superintendent, seems to be more involved.

The local media has come up on occasions as well. He does say that there is bias in the local media and that they are politically correct. He says:
“I’ve been asking channel 12 [WSFA] for the longest... a perpetrator commits a robbery… they never give us the race of the person that committed the crime… never… on TV. They said, ‘well it’s not relevant,’ Okay. So let’s say ‘man committed a robbery… five foot six… Okay… what else? So my job now is to look at everybody in America that’s five foot six… or in Montgomery, Alabama. But what does he look like? What color is his skin? For identification purposes only, race matters. If we keep doing it, we’re going to get somebody killed in Montgomery because the guy could be right next to us, and we don’t know it because the news refused to give the race of the person.”

He added, “WSFA, black people want to know if they’re black, too… we don’t want them breaking in our house either.”

Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright, who won a third term in late 2007, is now running for Congress in District Two. Some people have expressed a problem with him doing this so soon after winning another term as mayor. Elkins says, “I don’t have a problem with it.” He compares it to being promoted to a bigger job. “As long as the move is upward, I don’t have a problem with it. He’s done a decent job in Montgomery. “

While Elkins has been on the air for years, he considers the most important thing he has accomplished with his program was collect money to buy computers for hardworking kids that didn’t have one. “Every year, I get on that radio station and beg Montgomerians – regular folks – for money so we can reward kids with computers who work hard all year long, and every year for the last four years, we have not failed. The first year we started off with three computers. The second year, we gave 10. The last two years, we have given 15 computers away. We do all of this in three weeks. We raise about $10,000 – after Thanksgiving.”

“People in Montgomery – black and white – give money to these kids who excel and who pursue that excellence in education. If they can do it without a computer, a computer is going to help these kids rise as high as they want to go!”

“First Call” airs Monday through Friday, 7 - 9 am on 1440 AM. The program also airs online and can be streamed from: http://www.newsradio1440.com/shows/first_call.shtml.

Kevin Elkins.
Photo/J.Carples, CCFP