EAST ORANGE, NJ — Royston Allman and his Changemakers Radio Show have experienced a big change, now that it has officially moved from its old radio station, RTH2000, to its new broadcast home at 95.9 FM WZYE, located on Evergreen Place.
“We’re representing the first generation crew. We have changed location and we’re on with WZYE 95.9 FM, broadcasting right here in Essex County,” said Allman on Saturday, Dec. 2. “We’re starting on Saturday afternoon from 2 to 4 p.m. Dec. 9 is our first broadcast and we’ll be here each and every Saturday with myself, Eric Perryman, Rebecca St. Louis and a host of interesting guests that are about change in the community, that are positive role models and some of our leaders as well.”
Allman and company celebrated the two-year anniversary of broadcasting at RTH2000, shortly before the Nov. 7 elections that swept Mayor-elect Ted Green and the rest of his Team Green in 2017 into office. The Changemakers Radio Show played a role in the election race as far back as the Democratic Party primary on Tuesday, June 6, when Green and Board of Education President Bergson Leneus, who was running to succeed him as the 3rd Ward councilman, appeared on the program, along with Green’s opponent John Thompson. Kenwyn S. Williams, who also ran against Green in the primary election, never appeared on the Changemakers Radio Show, although he was invited.
To mark its second anniversary on Saturday, Oct. 28, RTH2000 hosted 3rd Ward City Council candidate Mayme Robinson, a registered Democrat and longtime East Orange Democratic Committee member running as an independent candidate against Leneus.
“It’s been two years. October of 2015 is when we began and we’ve just been keeping the ball rolling,” said Allman on Saturday, Oct. 28. “Facebook Live, you can catch us on the Changemakers group page every Saturday morning at 10 a.m. live and you also can catch us on repeats, because we’re also posted up after the show. We’ve had a gamut of guests. In two years, we’ve had everyone from autism advocates to rappers to national hookup of black women, we’ve had Joi’s Angels, we’ve had Sierra House and Chit-Chat was content partners with us for a while, but not anymore, even though they’re still out there, doing their thing.”
“We’re just tuning it up right now, because it’s time for an even more aggressive change and you know we’ll be putting forth a lot of solutions, as we always try to do,” said Allman, who ran for the 5th Ward City Council seat in 2013. “Caribbean Sports International Inc. and Gospel Light Prayer Church on Sanford Avenue in Irvington share the broadcasting license for 95.9 FM, even though the church does not yet have the equipment needed to make full use of it. I am just appreciative of the new station; it is a powerful team over there. This is the voice of the Caribbean, the community, the city of East Orange and positive change.”
Allman was referring to Caribbean Sports International, which applied for the license rights to broadcast on 95.9 FM from the Federal Communications Commission, along with Gospel Light Prayer Church on Sanford Avenue in Irvington. Currently, Caribbean Sports International shares the 95.9FM radio waves with the church; however, they do not conduct joint broadcasts, so anyone tuning in when WZYE is not broadcasting is likely to encounter “dead air,” because the church does not currently have the FM antenna or equipment needed to broadcast their own content over their new outlet.
“We’re on right now on 1640 AM. The FM station hasn’t been started yet, but we’re also on the internet at www.thenewjerusalemradio.org. We’re on iTunes. If you have a smartphone, you can just download the app,” said Ameeka Singh, of the church, Sunday, Dec. 3. “We’re running live each and every day. We have live programs on Saturdays and I come on every morning from 6 to 8 with ‘A New Day.’ So we’re here to encourage one another, we’re here to lift up one another, we’re here to build up one another. If we do that, there will be more love, there will be more compassion, there will be less crime, there will be less violence.”
She said Gospel Light Prayer Church’s mission is simple and the fact that she and her husband, Pastor Robert Singh, and their congregation managed to build the church in the backyard of their home on Sanford Avenue, despite all the naysayers and obstacles they had to overcome, is proof miracles can happen.
“There are people that are out there that are hurting and are in desperate need for some love and some encouragement and that’s what we want to share,” she said.
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