Short answers, pulled from the story.
Joseph Deighton Gibson Jr. (the 13th of May 1920 - the 30th of January 2000) was an American radio disc jockey and actor regarded as the father of the Black appeal radio format. He helped found WERD, the first Black-owned radio station in America, created the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers, and ran the Jack the Rapper Family Affair convention for decades.
WERD was a radio station founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1949 by Gibson and Jesse Blayton Jr. It was the first radio station in America to be owned by a Black person, and the first voice heard on it was Gibson broadcasting as 'Jockey Jack.' The station played Rhythm and Blues at a time when most Black-appeal stations still preferred the big-band format.
The Jack the Rapper Family Affair was a recurring convention where influential figures in Black urban radio gathered to hear record company offerings and see live performances. It grew to over 5,000 attendees and claimed to bring $13.8 million in annual economic activity to Atlanta. Performing live at a Family Affair could launch a new act's career, and established musicians like Prince and Whitney Houston used the event to affirm their continued presence.
Gibson joined Motown Records in 1963 as a public-relations manager and served as Director of International PR. He mentored the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, the Jackson Five, and Stevie Wonder, often providing these artists with their first introductions to the public on stage. He later moved to STAX Records in 1969, remaining there until 1972.
Al Benson, born Arthur Bernard Leaner in 1920 in Jackson, Mississippi, was a Chicago disc jockey known as the 'Old Swingmaster.' He mentored Gibson at WJJD and is credited as the first DJ to broadcast with a Black southern accent. The 'Jockey Jack' persona was born under Benson's influence at WJJD, where Gibson learned to play to a Black audience using the street slang and music Benson had popularized.
In 1987, Gibson learned that soul singer Jackie Wilson had been buried in an unmarked grave next to his mother. He launched a crowd-sourced fundraiser that raised an estimated $10,000, often in $1 increments - including 50 cents from a prisoner in Kansas - to build a mausoleum and headstone. The inscription chosen for Wilson read 'And now, no more lonely teardrops.'