Kevin Heard

Board of Trustee

Kevin Heard, the Managing Editor of the Call and Post newspaper, Ohio’s most respected African American Newspaper in existence since 1916, he has emerged as one of Cleveland’s city’s top journalist.

Heard has recently appeared on news stations WKYC, WVIZ and WNPR to share his political and social viewpoint on local and national topics. He currently shares weekly hosting duties on Village Television’s Urban Flix Live.

Attending Kent State University on a full scholarship, his “world view” was grounded in the university’s Department of Pan African Studies. Works by scholars such as Cheikh Anta Diop and Frantz Fanon layered the foundation of his newly defined “Afrocentricity.”

While attending KSU, Heard studied acting under Dr. Francis Dorsey and starred in stage performances as a member of the school’s renowned African Community Theater.

Clevelanders may best know Kevin Heard from the mid-‘80s as M.C. Chill, Cleveland’s first national rap recording artist. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum has twice commissioned Heard’s paraphernalia to be included in the museum’s archives.

In the late 80’s he hosted radio station WZAK’s nationally recognized hip‑hop program, and in 1991 he began writing for the “Source” (the Nation’s top rap magazine). Taking to print media with a passion, it wasn’t long before other publications began acknowledging his verbal voice.

He has gone from the theatrical stage, to radio, to pioneering a musical movement that has reshaped popular culture. It is certainly not the conventional road traveled by other newspaper columnists or editors, but his perspective uniquely qualifies him to write about a world and its culture from the inside looking out.

As the editor of the Call and Post entertainment magazine, his effort led to 7 national awards for best entertainment publication and was among the first recipients of the Call and Post “President Award for outstanding achievement.”

Heard is a member of the Press Club of Cleveland, Executive Directive of the International Men of Excellence, a board member of the Progressive Arts Alliance, associate board member of the United Black Fund, a founding member of the African American Film Critics Association and was the Assistant Editor for Kappa Alpha Psi’s international publication, Kappa Journal. Heard was inducted into John F. Kennedy high school’s Hall of Fame and has been a voting member for the NAACP’s Image Awards and the BET Awards. He is a member of the Los Angeles-based Organization of Black Screenwriters and is currently involved in film projects in Cleveland and Hollywood.