Art Form: Gospel radio announcing

Location(s): Detroit (Wayne County)

Dr. Deborah Smith Pollard

Portrait of Dr. Deborah Smith Pollard

Promotional photo of Dr. Deborah Smith Pollard (r) and co-host Glenda Curry (l) for their radio show

Dr. Deborah Smith Pollard grew up as the eldest child of a Baptist pastor (the late Rev. Elmer W. Smith of Detroit’s Elyton Baptist, also a baritone and choral conductor) and a minister of music (the late Rosa Lee Smith, who served Elyton for 50 years). Her parents—both formally trained musicians—exposed her to a variety of music, including the rich musical traditions of the Black church where she was surrounded by the rhetorical devices of Black preachers and the performance practices of choirs and soloists (she is a former member of church and community gospel choirs). Her grounding in the church and its music fostered her love of gospel and her deep belief in its underlying message.

She hosted her first gospel radio show—a weekly program—during the early 1980s while an undergraduate student at Michigan State majoring in Radio and Television. She returned to MSU in 1989 to complete her PhD in American Studies, with a pioneering dissertation on “The Gospel Announcer and the Black Gospel Music Tradition” (1994). Although national in scope, Deborah included several important Detroit announcers, some of whom were interviewed for the Michigan Traditional Arts Program and then featured at the 1993 Festival of Michigan Folklife. This began a continuing relationship with MTAP as a research associate, presenter/emcee at various folk festivals, curator, and donor for a collection of gospel attire.

Her doctoral focus on gospel announcers shaped the trajectory of her career. She provided groundbreaking analysis of the role of gospel announcers and radio as primary disseminators of gospel music and as performers in their own right, whose success depends on their competence in the verbal and behavioral performance practices of the Black aesthetic. Deborah is both a scholar and practitioner of the announcer’s artistry. For nearly three decades, she has been a popular and respected gospel announcer in Detroit, first as host/producer with WJLB FM 98 (1994-2013) and since 2013 as host/producer of "Rhythm and Praise with Deborah Smith Pollard" on MIX 92.3 FM WMXD (a Clear Channel Station in Farmington Hills). She currently co-hosts the program with Glenda Curry as “Sunday Morning Inspiration” in the 7-10 am Sunday morning slot.

Her research underscores the important role of gospel radio announcers as emcees of concert events, again, a role she has successfully embraced in her hometown. From the early 1980s through 2005, she was the co-producer of McDonald's Gospelfest in Detroit (the first such event in the country for the fast-food franchise) and the Motor City Praisefest. When the two events combined in 1999, the resultant festival was among the largest gospel events in the country, attracting thousands of fans.

She is a major national figure in gospel music research, drawing attention to the important role and artistry of women radio announcers, attire in gospel music, gospel music stage plays, Holy Hip Hop, and the rise of Praise and Worship in the urban church. Through it all she has grounded her research in Detroit’s vibrant and changing music scene, while providing essential historic and national context. Feedback on her book "When the Church Becomes Your Party" illustrated the breadth of her audience and the respect and esteem she holds.  Bobby Jones of Bobby Jones Gospel wrote on the dust jacket, “The industry highly applauds all of her wonderful contributions.” Two of the leading scholars on African American music wrote pre-publication comments, the late gospel scholar Dr. Horace Boyer, and Dr. Portia Maultsby. Boyer observed, “In entertaining yet scholarly writing, Pollard tell us how, when, why, and where [contemporary changes in Black gospel] took place.” Pastor Marvin Winans of Detroit’s Perfection Church (also featured in the book) called it a “must read” and commented to the Detroit Free Press that Dr. Smith Pollard’s research “adds a sense of legitimacy to gospel music. ‘So much of our history has been passed down orally,’ he notes. ‘For her to take the time to research, write and share her thoughts on our music legitimizes who we are as a people. And Deborah is just one of those people who believes in and is committed to the gospel’" (Cassandra Spratling, Detroit Free Press, April 30, 2008).

Her research also has been published in academic anthologies, in academic and popular journals, and in social media.  An accomplished public speaker on gospel music, she has appeared at the Smithsonian, Kennedy Center, and traveled from Hawaii to New York, and from Japan to South Africa and England. Since the 1980s, then, Dr. Smith Pollard has been promoting and supporting Detroit and the national gospel music scene, starting with her first radio show in the 1980s and later through print, public presentation, and teaching.

- Laurie Kay Sommers, 2020