Adolph Mongo

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    Adolph Mongo
    Personal details
    Born (1954-01-15) January 15, 1954 (age 69)
    Detroit, Michigan
    Political partyDemocratic Party
    Residence(s)Detroit, Michigan
    Alma mater
    OccupationRadio host, political commentator, political campaign manager
    WebsiteOfficial Website
    Military service
    Allegiance United States
    Branch/service United States Marine Corps
    Awards

    Adolph Mongo (born January 15, 1954) is an American political advisor and radio host. He currently[when?] resides in Detroit, Michigan, where he is an on-air radio personality for 910 AM Superstation/WFDF, as the host of Detroit in Black & White.[1]

    Mongo was a political consultant to Detroit's mayor, Coleman Young and Kwame Kilpatrick, 1998 Michigan Democratic Party gubernatorial nominee Geoffrey Fieger, six Michigan Court of Appeals judges, five Wayne County Circuit Court judges, three Wayne County prosecutors (John O'Hara, Mike Duggan and Kym Worthy) and two US congresswomen.[2] He was also a consultant for Matty Moroun, the owner of the Ambassador Bridge that links Detroit to Canada. It is the busiest international crossing in the U.S..

    Personal life[edit]

    Mongo was born on January 15, 1954, in Detroit, Michigan, and was raised in Royal Oak Township where he attended Oak Park public schools.[3]

    While a junior at Oak Park High School, he was managing editor of The Eagle American, the high school newspaper. He was the first African-American student to hold the position. During his senior year, he helped to lead the school to its first state championship in track, where he earned All State Honors.[citation needed]

    Education[edit]

    In 1972, Mongo was awarded the WJR Scholarship in Broadcast Journalism as an incoming freshman at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In May 1976, he graduated, receiving his bachelor's degree with honors. He later attended Wayne State University, where he received a master's degree in labor history in 1999.

    Military service[edit]

    Following university, Mongo joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. He received a certificate in photo journalism from the Defense Information School (DINFOS) in 1978.[4]

    Media career[edit]

    From 1978 until 1983, Mongo worked as a reporter for the Colorado Springs Sun, Frederick News-Post, the South Haven (Michigan) Daily Tribune and the Michigan Chronicle newspapers.

    He has appeared on the CNBC television program American Greed, as well as CNN's Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.[3]

    Mongo has been featured as an expert in Detroit politics by newspapers and publications throughout the United States, including: The Weekly Standard, The New York Times, The Washington Post and GQ.

    He has contributed as a columnist to The Detroit News, The Michigan Chronicle, The Michigan Citizen and Deadline Detroit and has been a regular guest on 92.3 FM (WMXD), Fox 2 News Let It Rip, WDIV (NBC) Flash Point and The Detroit News web program Hold the Onions.

    Two of Mongo's newspaper advertisements, "Lynching is Still Legal in America" and "Sometimes a handshake and an acknowledgment makes a difference", sparked nationwide controversy in 2005 and 2006.[4]

    Mongo is spotlighted in chapter thirteen of Tim Skubick's book, See Dick and Jen Run (2006).[5] Skubick highlights Mongo's involvement in the 2006 race for Michigan governor. He is also featured in Charlie LeDuff's, book, Detroit: An American Autopsy, in a chapter titled "Mongo".[4]

    Political career[edit]

    Mongo organized his first protest in April 1968, at the age of 14. When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, the administrators at Clinton Junior High School refused to allow students to leave school early to attend a church service. Mongo led a walkout by black students in protest. During his senior year in high school, Mongo ran a last minute write-in campaign for student mayor of Oak Park. He won, making him the first African-American student to hold that office.

    From 1984 until 1991, he was deputy director of public information under the late Detroit mayor Coleman A. Young.[6]

    In 1998, Mongo led a protest against the Detroit Medical Center when a nursing supervisor at Sinai Hospital posted a sign outside a 74-year-old patient's room demanding that African-Americans, including medical personnel, be excluded from entering his room. The supervisor was later fired.[7]

    In 2005, Mongo's attack advertisements were credited for Kwame Kilpatrick's upset win over Freman Hendrix.[citation needed]

    In 2007, Mongo was instrumental in forcing the release of three students wrongly accused of killing a woman from Taylor, Michigan. He organized several protests that culminated in the Wayne County prosecutor, Kym Worthy, dropping the charges. The real killers were later arrested and sentenced to long prison terms.[8]

    In April 2011, Mongo led a boycott against the Detroit NAACP's 56th Annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner and called for NAACP president Rev. Wendell Anthony to resign his position. Mongo's complaint surrounded the "Great Expectations" Award Anthony gave to Kid Rock, a native metropolitan Detroiter, who has been known to fly the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. Mongo said. "Rev. Anthony is making it OK for people like Kid Rock to fly the ... flag." He continued, "That flag stands for hate, racism and bigotry."[9]

    In 2016, Mongo ran State Senator Coleman Young II's campaign for mayor of Detroit, against the incumbent Mike Duggan.[10] In 2018, he was the campaign manager for Coleman Young II's campaign for the Democratic nomination in Michigan's 13th Congressional District. The seat was vacant, due to the resignation of John Conyers.[11]

    References[edit]

    1. ^ "Full On-Air Line Up". 910AM. Archived from the original on December 23, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
    2. ^ Jonathan Oostin (February 4, 2010). "Adolph Mongo says he's leaving Detroit because of Kwame Kilpatrick's legacy". MLive.
    3. ^ a b Adolph Mongo (November 14, 2013). "Adolph Mongo: Warts and All, Bourdain's Show Good For Detroit". Deadline Detroit.
    4. ^ a b c LeDuff, Charlie (2013). "Mongo". Detroit:An American Autopsy. Penquin. ISBN 978-0143124467.
    5. ^ Skubick, Tim (2013). See Dick and Jen Run: The 2006 Michigan Race for Governor. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0472116072.
    6. ^ "Who would want this job?". No place to go, but up. ESPN.
    7. ^ "Adolph Mongo, Announces Upcoming Book". Adolph Mongo, Political Consultant. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015.
    8. ^ "Murder charges spark protests, racism claims". The Detroit News.[dead link]
    9. ^ "Prominent Political Consultant Tells Detroit To Shuck Off UAW, Democratic Party". CBS Detroit. July 9, 2014.
    10. ^ Chad Livengood (February 24, 2017). "Young to take on Duggan in Detroit mayoral bid". Crain's Detroit Business.
    11. ^ Paul Egan. "Sen. Coleman Young of Detroit to seek congressional seat vacated by John Conyers". Detroit Free Press.
      - "Governor calls special election for Conyers seat". ABC 2.[dead link]

    External links[edit]


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