Radio de Oscar Brown, Jr.

Oscar Brown, Jr (October 10, 1926 ? May 29, 2005) was a singer, songwriter, playwright, poet, and civil rights activist. He ran for office in the Illinois state legislature and U.S. Congress, both unsuccessfully. Born and raised on the south side of Chicago, he was named for his father Oscar Brown, Sr., who was a successful attorney and real estate broker. His singing debut was on the radio show Secret City at age fifteen. Brown attended Englewood High School in Chicago, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) but did not obtain a degree. He served a stint in the U.S. Army, officially segregated until 1948, where his views on "race relations" were considered "subversive."[citation needed] In his youth, he was even a member of the Communist Party, USA, which ultimately also decided Oscar was "too subversive"; he was suspected to be a Black Nationalist.[citation needed]