Representatives of the Black Power 96 radio station in St. Petersburg speak after a court hearing Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, in Jacksonville. | Michelle Corum, Jacksonville Today
Published on November 6, 2025 at 4:22 pm
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Attorneys for a Black radio station in St. Petersburg were in Jacksonville on Thursday to argue a First Amendent case in appellate court.
Three years ago, the station, Black Power 96, asked for $37,000 of federal COVID-19 relief money, which Pinellas County approved.
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Shortly after, the station says, the County Commission revoked the funding.
The action came after a county commissioner denounced the station’s association with the Uhuru Movement, also referred to as the Black Freedom Movement — an initiative under the African People’s Socialist Party to unite African people for “liberation, social justice, self-reliance and economic development,” according to the group’s website.
Black Power 96 is a project of the African People’s Education and Defense Fund, which filed suit in October 2023 against Pinellas County. The suit alleged racial discrimination and a violation of the nonprofit’s First Amendment rights.
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A trial court dismissed the suit, and the group’s attorneys appeared Thursday before the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Jacksonville seeking its reinstatement.
The radio station’s arguments
The appeal attempts to show that “freedom of speech is not forgotten, it’s not lost,” said attorney Luke Lirot. “No one should be punished, no one should be penalized for associating even with a group considered to be disfavored.”
In a news release this week, the organization said the case “foretold the current wave of politically motivated defunding.”
“If successful, the suit would set case law precedent benefiting hundreds of institutions currently fighting defunding,” the news release said.
