American Urban Radio Networks announced the sudden passing of Gerald A. “Jerry” Lopes. After his nearly four decades of service, Lopes retired as the President of Programming and Affiliations at AURN in 2018. Lopes Died on April 23rd.
AURN issued the following statement following the announcement if Lopes passing away: “As a valued member of the AURN team and a strong advocate for Black radio in general, Jerry Lopes served on the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) board for over ten years. A few of his most notable accomplishments were securing and broadcasting an interview between then presidents Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela in 1994, live on-site accounts of the Challenger explosion, and a live broadcast of the “Million Man March.” In addition, Jerry sheperded the production of the radio versions of “Lou Rawls Parade of Stars” for the United Negro College Fund and writing and producing various health and voting rights information pieces in conjunction with NABOB.
“Jerry’s passion for Historically Black Colleges and Black College Football led him to spearhead a 40 plus year program of scholarships for student-athletes, The Black College All American (BCAA), which celebrated students’ contributions on and off the field. A veteran of the United States Air Force, Jerry’s commitment to our troops led to AURN supplying programming to the Armed Forces Radio Network.
“Journalist, broadcaster, producer, mentor, a reporter of the facts, not an interpreter of a story…this was Jerry Lopes. He will be sorely missed.”
