Life was good. Langford Cunningham thought he had it all figured out—a meaningful career as a deputy juvenile officer at St. Louis County Juvenile Detention Center, a beautiful home, nice cars, attractive women vying for his attention, and weekly nightlife adventures out on the town.
“I had to fill that void,” Langford Cunningham said. “I just didn’t wanna sit around the house being blind waiting for a check cause that’s what society does. They shove you off on an island, just say stay out the way and get your check once a month. Nah, you can’t do that to me. I have to find something to do to help people. That’s what I’ve been doing my whole life.”
What more could a person ask for?
But all that changed, and Cunningham’s life was never the same.
He woke up one morning and noticed his eyes were bloodshot red. Thinking nothing of it, he assumed it was from alcohol he consumed the night before.
After seeing his eyes remain in that state for a couple of weeks, he decided to purchase eye relief wash from Walgreens to flush them out. Nothing happened.
Then, he visited an eye doctor inside of a strip mall to get his eyes checked. The doctor asked him if glaucoma runs in his family, and he told him his father had it. His late father went blind in his 60s.
Concerned, the doctor told Cunningham he needed to go to an ophthalmologist immediately because he had an eye pressure of 45.
The normal eye pressure ranges between 10 and 15.
His life drastically changed after that day. He had to have more than 30 surgeries.
In the end, his eyesight never returned.
Losing his eyesight caused him to stumble into a deep, dark depression, which ultimately led him to attempt suicide three times in one day.
“I didn’t think it was nothing to live for because my mind was so insecure about materialism,” he said. “I thought without it, I couldn’t live again because I couldn’t see.”
When the suicide attempt wasn’t successful, he knew he was alive for a purpose. He began to accept his new journey and started figuring out how to adapt.
One day, he went to a center for blind and visually impaired people to ask questions. The clients there had been blind all their life so he figured they’d have the answers he needed.
Instead, they were the ones who asked him questions since he had just become blind. He was confused by this, but an employee at the facility made him see the bigger picture. They have always been blind, while he previously had sight and was able to see.
He said that brought him to tears and showed he was taking life for granted. He knew he had something greater to live for
His platform, Blind City the Podcast, was created. Once he became disabled, he could no longer work with the at-risk youth population at the juvenile detention center because he was seen as a hazard.
He had to think of a brand new career to help sustain his lifestyle. His love of talking and inspiring others motivated him to launch a podcast about various issues in the community.
With his podcast, he’s had the opportunity to touch on a variety of topics that don’t always get talked about including childhood trauma, domestic violence, a mother’s fight against gun violence, and confessions from a formerly incarcerated man.
He’s also had a slew of prominent community figures on his show, including St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, Michael Brown, Sr., father of slain teenager Michael Brown, Jr. who was killed by a Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in 2014, and national recording artist Murphy Lee.
Initially, when he first launched the show, he didn’t expect it to take off like it has. He said he was simply thinking of another avenue for income after being let go from his 15-year career at the juvenile detention center.
“I had to fill that void,” he said. “I just didn’t wanna sit around the house being blind waiting for a check ‘cause that’s what society does. They shove you off on an island. Just say ‘stay out the way and get your check once a month.’ Nah, you can’t do that to me. I have to find something to do to help people. That’s what I’ve been doing my whole life.”
He named the podcast Blind City, not because he’s blind, but because he says he believes we’re living in a community blinded by crime, racism, and poverty. For his mission-driven platform, he thanks the guests who come on the show for helping it succeed.
“It wouldn’t be successful without the people that come onto the show. It’s the everyday people,” he said. “It’s the community that has taken Blind City and wrapped their arms around it, saying we need this in our community. So I am very thankful for the people that appear on my show and the people in the community.”
He encourages all who are disabled not to count themselves out of society, use their voice, and advocate for change.
“Believe in yourself that you can do anything that you put your mind to,” he said. “You really can once you get past the bitterness and being angry at the world because you go through that phase too. I went through that phase. You go through that phase where you’re mad, angry, bitter and question ‘why me.’ After you finally calm down and start thinking, then that’s when God goes to work. You can’t find God being bitter and angry.”
Blind City operates under the sponsorship of Cunningham’s nonprofit organization, Redemption Academy, a faith-based establishment dedicated to enriching the lives of Black and brown youth.
To learn more about Blind City, visit https://www.blindcitythepodcast.com/
Watch Blind City on YouTube, Monday mornings at 2:30 a.m. on ABC 30, Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. and Saturday nights at 9 p.m. on The Hype Magazine Network’s Roku channel.
Beginning in January, it will premiere late nights on KMOV.
