KPFA - Hard Knock Radio

Hard Knock Radio conversation between host Davey D and Professor Nisrin Elamin. Host Davey D opens with a straight ask. What is really happening in Sudan, and how did we get here. Professor Elamin answers with a mini history lesson. Sudan gained independence in the 1950s with a colonial economy built for export and a political system tilted toward a northern and central elite. At independence, nearly all top administrative posts went to that elite while vast regions like Darfur and the South were shut out. Resistance rose early. Two brutal civil wars followed and ultimately South Sudan voted for independence in 2011. To understand today, Elamin traces the arc to Darfur in 2003. The regime armed Janjaweed militias to crush non Arab communities. Those militias were formalized as the Rapid Support Forces in 2013. The European Union later empowered the RSF to police migrants along the Libya corridor, baking them deeper into the state’s coercive machinery. She connects economic policy to political rupture. IMF backed subsidy cuts in 2017 sparked the 2019 revolution that toppled Omar al Bashir. A transitional military council then paired generals with civilian elites. The generals kept real power and oversaw a massacre at the Khartoum sit in. External deals followed, including normalization with Israel to unlock financing, while sanctions and Gulf investments reshaped who held leverage. War erupted on April 15, 2023 as the Army and the RSF split and fought for control. The RSF’s leaders profit from livestock and illicit gold routed through the UAE. The Army and allied Islamists control major sectors and draw support from regional states worried about the Red Sea and Nile politics. Elamin centers Sudanese grassroots power. Neighborhood resistance committees ran services before the war and pivoted to emergency kitchens, clinics, evacuations, and clandestine relief. She urges listeners to study Sudan, back on the ground mutual aid, join divestment efforts that cut profits from weapons and Sudanese gold, and support groups aiding Black migrants. The message is sober but rooted in agency and hope. Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post Sudan at War: A Crisis the World Ignores appeared first on KPFA.

On Hard Knock Radio, Davey D sat down with Samer Araabi of AROC to unpack the realities in Gaza after the so called ceasefire and the political currents swirling around it. Araabi said the ceasefire created a brief window of relief but did not end the crisis. He noted that hundreds of Palestinians have been killed since the agreement and that promised aid is falling far short. The deal calls for about six hundred aid trucks a day, but current estimates hover near one hundred. He added that the aid entering Gaza often lacks the supplies needed to reverse acute malnutrition and excludes materials required to clear rubble or rebuild homes, signaling an intention to keep Gaza in a state of destruction. The conversation widened to the battle over narrative. Araabi argued the ceasefire also served to reset media attention and punish organizers, even as public opinion shifted toward Palestinian rights. He pointed to expanding efforts to criminalize speech and label anti Zionism as antisemitism, and to heavy handed policing of protest that often backfires by exposing overreach. As an example of the political turn, he cited a recent landslide win in New York where exit polls showed voters were moved by a pro Palestine stance. Davey D and Araabi connected this moment to domestic power. They discussed police exchanges, surveillance, and how US and Israeli interests align within a broader authoritarian and late stage capitalist framework. They also drew lines to Sudan and Congo, noting regional actors and resource networks that link these crises. On what people can do, Araabi offered two tracks. Support credible groups already working in Gaza, such as the Middle East Children’s Alliance. And change the political conditions at home by cutting off arms flows. Locally, he highlighted the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo campaign focused on stopping F 35 parts shipments through the airport, along with pushes at the Port Commission, Alameda County, and the Oakland City Council. He urged listeners to plug in through AROC’s events calendar and to make this issue decisive in the coming elections. Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post Israel Continues to Assault on Gaza and Brown Girl Pride Explores No Sabo appeared first on KPFA.

Here is what went down on Hard Knock Radio. Davey D opened by pressing into a fresh claim from Donald Trump that American troops should intervene in Nigeria to protect Christians. He linked it to earlier talk about South Africa and asked a basic question. What is really happening on the ground and who would benefit from U.S. muscle Lagos based journalist Sam Olukoya said the talk did not come out of nowhere. Members of Congress have floated genocide language for a while. Still, a direct military threat from a U.S. president jolted the country and has dominated conversations across Nigeria. Responses are mixed. Some fear Marines landing and firefights with Nigerian soldiers. Others think any action would be limited to strikes on groups linked to Al Qaeda or ISIS. Olukoya stressed that anxiety runs highest in the Muslim north where U.S. intentions are widely distrusted and where many read any American move as part of an American and Israeli alignment Two motives kept coming up. Religion and oil. Davey raised the export of U.S. evangelical politics to Africa and the long history of missions as cover for power. He also pointed to the obvious. Nigeria is an oil state with deep American business ties. Olukoya agreed both factors shape perceptions. He added an important corrective for U.S. audiences. Western media often highlight Christian victims while ignoring Muslim victims. Boko Haram and armed bandit groups have killed across communities. Christians and Muslims are both bleeding On politics, Olukoya sketched the system as similar to the U.S. with a Senate and House. He noted the current president is a Muslim married to a Christian pastor and has pitched that relationship as a symbol of unity. That fuels a common view inside Nigeria. If Washington were serious about helping it could share technology and arms rather than deploy troops. Direct intervention signals other motives The wider chessboard matters. France has lost ground in the Sahel. Russia and its contractors have moved in. China looms on the economic side. Some in the West see a strong Nigeria aligned with neighbors as a problem. Many Nigerians see instability as useful to outside powers and unity as the best defense On AFRICOM and U.S. outposts, suspicion runs deep. The Muslim north rejects any American military presence. Analysts in the south also warn about hidden agendas. Olukoya closed with a sober note. Security has worsened over the last fifteen years with more armed groups than he can count. Nigeria needs real support and real accountability. What it does not need is another proxy battlefield dressed up as salvation. Later Davey also speaks with fashion designer and creative Senay Alkubelan about creatives connecting to the continent of Africa. Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post Trump’s Threats of Military Intervention in Nigeria and Creatives Connecting to the Continent of Africa appeared first on KPFA.

Hard Knock Radio opened with a sobering conversation about the death of 72 year old Brentwood resident Yolanda Ramirez after an encounter with police. Host Davey D spoke with KPFA’s Frank Sterling, civil rights attorney Melissa Nold, and family members Rich and Rudy. The family and their attorney allege that Ramirez suffered a head injury during a disputed detention and that crucial details were not shared with loved ones or hospital staff. Sterling set the scene from East Contra Costa County, noting a long history of policing concerns in Antioch, Pittsburg, and Brentwood. He called Ramirez’s death preventable and urged Brentwood City Council to review body camera video and conduct an independent inquiry rather than accept a police narrative at face value. Rich recounted the day of the incident. Ramirez went to help her brother with medical appointments after a dispute with her sister. Witnesses told the family a male officer forced Ramirez into a patrol car and her head struck the window. Rich said officers logged a resisting arrest code, yet never notified the family as Ramirez was transported to the hospital. She later underwent surgery for a brain bleed and died on October 3. Rudy, her husband of 54 years, described Ramirez as a loving caregiver and organ donor who devoted her days to grandchildren and church. Attorney Melissa Nold said the family heard nothing official for weeks. She cited photos of handcuff injuries, new witnesses who contradict claims that Ramirez fled, and the absence of prompt witness interviews by police or the district attorney. Nold has filed a claim and arranged a second autopsy with help from Colin Kaepernick’s foundation. Sterling called for public pressure at a special Brentwood City Council meeting, with a rally at 6 and public comment at the start of the 6:30 session, including a Zoom option. The family wants transparency, accountability, and the full truth about Yolanda Ramirez. Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post Yolanda Ramirez Murdered by Police in Brentwood appeared first on KPFA.

Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post Hard Knock Radio – November 10, 2025 appeared first on KPFA.

Here’s what went down on Hard Knock Radio when we brought George Galvis, Dorsey Nunn, and Minister King X to the mic. We opened with the upcoming Oakland screening of The Alabama Solution, a searing documentary built with clandestine footage shot by people inside. George called it the most powerful prison expose he has seen, precisely because it lets those behind the walls tell the story themselves. He urged folks to pull up to Grand Lake Theater on Wednesday, November 12 at 6 pm. Tickets are free through CURYJ, with a popcorn and drink coupon to remove any barrier. Dorsey grounded the conversation in lived history. He spoke on torture made invisible by remote prison locations, on the banning of books like George Jackson’s Blood in My Eye, and on how political education inside transformed his own life. He connected California hunger strikes, decades in solitary, and a lifetime commitment to restoring human and civil rights. The point was clear. The system thrives on punishment, not rehabilitation, and it works hard to keep the public from seeing that truth. Minister King X carried that thread forward. As a younger organizer shaped by elders, he described solitary confinement, censorship, and the way newspapers like San Francisco Bay View helped build consciousness and unity. He linked the Free Alabama Movement’s call to end prison slavery with his own art and activism and outlined community based responses like Strategic Community Release Boards and liberation zones. We also dug into culture and narrative. I noted how platforms monetize violent prison lore while suppressing advocacy. George answered that this is deliberate. Power fears unity and promotes division, just as Los Angeles authorities once erased “Crips, Bloods, and Essays United” graffiti and worked to break truces. The takeaway is bigger than one state. Prisons, detention centers, and even global zones of occupation are connected by a logic that prioritizes control over safety. Info and free tickets: CURYJ dot org. See you Wednesday. Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post The Alabama Solution and Poor News Network appeared first on KPFA.

Hard Knock Radio dug into the day after the election with Professor Melina Abdullah of Black Lives Matter Grassroots and Kali Akuno of Cooperation Jackson. We opened with a sober check on the victory talk. Akuno warned that establishment power will not sit still. He expects two immediate counter moves in New York. First, a police strike to box in a Mamdani administration and set limits. Second, a capital strike that chokes resources and punishes the base. He pointed to Jackson, Mississippi, where a similar dynamic unfolded after Chokwe Antar Lumumba took office, including police defiance and collaboration with ICE. The lesson. Winning office does not equal state power. Movements must stay organized, set sharp demands, and be ready for disciplined defense and mutual aid. I added historical context about NYPD’s Fear City pamphlet in the mid 1970s, a fear campaign that helped protect police jobs while teachers were cut, shaping the social terrain that birthed Hip Hop. We also noted how informal police slowdowns helped fuel recent recalls in the Bay. Abdullah called Tuesday a real pushback against fascism, especially on the coasts, but stressed that voting without organizing is a dead end. She highlighted the passage of Prop 50 in California and the decisive role of labor knocking doors and putting real money and people power in the field. For New York, she urged people to keep Mamdani grounded in his movement roots and to hold him accountable with love and pressure. She drew a cautionary tale from Los Angeles, where establishment voices and capital can pull electeds off community centered solutions. We widened the frame to Silicon Valley’s role in surveillance and censorship and asked what it looks like to target tech power directly. Abdullah noted that BLM Grassroots is larger than ever, with active chapters here and abroad, and that actions have continued even as cameras turn away. She lifted long running tactics like the Black exile boycott from Black Friday to New Year’s, with a build Black, buy Black, bank Black approach. Both guests closed on the same charge. Organize. Build durable networks of care, safety, and leverage. Keep the pressure on from the streets to city hall, and do not confuse electoral wins with the work of transforming power. Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post In Conversation with Dr. Melina Abdullah and Kali Akuno appeared first on KPFA.

Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post Hard Knock Radio – November 5, 2025 appeared first on KPFA.

Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post Hard Knock Radio – November 4, 2025 appeared first on KPFA.

Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post Hard Knock Radio – November 3, 2025 appeared first on KPFA.

Hard Knock Radio sat down with Seattle based organizer Courtney Scott to unpack a season of layoffs and a grinding federal shutdown. Davey opened with the scope. Amazon and UPS are shedding tens of thousands. Tech and media giants are cutting deep. Hundreds of thousands of Black women in federal jobs have already been pushed out, with more furloughs looming. He also flagged a dangerous fog. The administration has weakened labor data tracking, which makes the crisis feel personal and isolated instead of systemic. Courtney brought a veteran’s lens. During the 2013 shutdown, they helped organize Smithsonian cafeteria workers by meeting people at home when frustration was high. The lesson still holds. Worker power comes from relationships that move people to act together. Laws matter, but power resides where labor can say no and mean it. They walked through the craft of organizing. It starts with real conversations about what people value. That can be PTO for a 22 year old or job security for a parent. Courtney referenced the AEIOU frame. Agitate, educate, inoculate, and organize around clear stakes. Prepare workers for the boss’s playbook. Employers now borrow freedom movement language and try to third party the union. The counter is credibility and participation. Workers sit at the table. Workers vote. Contracts replace at will rules that let managers change policy books overnight. Davey pressed on fear and urgency. What if you are already laid off. Courtney said the best time to organize was yesterday. The next best is today. Unions can secure notice, severance, and recall rights. Mutual aid must carry people through hard choices. That is how farmworkers, housekeepers, and striking journalists have survived long fights. They also explored the call for a general strike. Courtney defined the floor. Do not go to work. They argued for strategic focus in ports and rail while keeping journalists reporting. Real scale requires alliances. Unions, churches, mosques, synagogues, and neighborhood groups can act as one. Start where people meet. A Raiders game. A church basement. A queer bar that functions as a safe commons. Two takeaways closed the hour. Know your coworkers well enough to trust one another. Then reach out for support from a union or EWOC. Add one more civic step. Subscribe to your local paper to protect independent reporting. The through line was simple. Collective liberation is linked. Nobody wins alone. Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post The American Economy and the Unstable Job Market Under Trump appeared first on KPFA.

Davey D opens with the stakes in Oakland and beyond. Cities are floating policies that make it easier to disappear unhoused people, often by criminalizing basic survival. He notes how public narratives erase who is actually living outside in Oakland. Many are older Black residents. That reality sits in tension with Black leaders invoking civil rights language while backing punitive approaches. Needa B frames the present through history. She draws a straight line from Black Codes and Jim Crow to today’s statutes that punish sleeping outdoors, cooking outdoors, or living in a vehicle. The target now is poor and unhoused people. She warns that dehumanizing one group opens the door to broader repression. Locally, she flags an Encampment Abatement Policy championed by Councilmember Kevin Jenkins and his chief of staff Ken Houston. The proposal would remove people living in vehicles from encampment protections, making quick tows and arrests possible without outreach or shelter offers. Brandon Harami brings the inside baseball. He says Oakland’s own equity section admits that a majority of the unhoused are Black, with Latine residents the next largest group, and that most have long East Bay roots. He alleges Brown Act workarounds and a push to rush special meetings outside the rules process. On policy, Brandon argues that the city should deploy incoming county Measure W funds toward rapid, dignified hotel conversions rather than chase quick sweeps that only shuffle people block to block. Needa cautions that Measure W will flow to service providers, not directly to cities, and that jurisdictions that criminalize will jeopardize both county and state funding under evidence based standards. Sweeps and tows are the costliest and most harmful path. The deeper problem, she says, is that California treats housing like a commodity rather than a right. Until deeply affordable homes are built at scale, the crisis will persist and rents will remain inflated. The hour ends with a practical call to action. A special City Council meeting is imminent. Listeners are urged to contact their councilmembers to vote no and send the item back to the Life Enrichment Committee, and to sign the Village in Oakland petition for real housing solutions over criminalization. Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post Criminalizing Survival: Oakland’s New Black Codes? appeared first on KPFA.

Host Davey D sat down with journalist Rasheed Shabazz of Oakland Voices to unpack a tense week in the Bay. Rumors of federal agents and possible troop deployments gave way to a confirmed staging at Coast Guard Island between Oakland and Alameda. Community members quickly mobilized, forming a blockade and confronting a heavy show of force. One protester was struck by a projectile, underscoring the stakes on the ground. Shabazz recapped a hastily called press conference where Oakland officials, council members, and federal representatives stressed unity against federal overreach and urged residents to protest without taking the bait. The warning was simple. Do not hand authorities the images they want to justify a wider crackdown. Davey D pressed on the power of optics, comparing today’s media landscape to Civil Rights era strategies and noting how perceptions of disorder can become pretexts for escalating enforcement. Shabazz pointed to a central contradiction. Local and state agencies have long collaborated with federal actors, from data sharing with immigration authorities to past deployments of Highway Patrol during protests. He recalled undercover incidents during Occupy and said Oakland has seen multi agency saturation before. The concern now is deeper. Detentions can move people outside local systems where community accountability and legal follow up are harder to secure. The conversation shifted to press freedom. Shabazz cited the growing range of attacks on journalists, new rules that chill reporting, and the targeting of independent media. In an environment where major outlets often repeat talking points, he argued that independent voices must show backbone, fact check in real time, and keep communities informed. As for what to do next, Shabazz amplified SEIU organizer Antoinette Blue’s advice. Find your lane. If you are not marching, support mutual aid. Share childcare when families keep kids home. Help with food distribution as federal cuts deepen insecurity. Build the ecosystem that helps people survive and stay engaged for the long haul. Davey D closed by urging vigilance toward local power brokers who call for federal intervention, even when they later walk it back. Learn more about community reporting at Oakland Voices at oaklandvoices.us. Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post Holding the Line: Rasheed Shabazz on Protest, Press Freedom, and Survival appeared first on KPFA.

In this powerful and timely conversation, Dr. Akinyele Umoja joins us to discuss The Memoirs of Robert and Mabel Williams: African American Freedom, Armed Resistance, and International Solidarity. Umoja, a scholar of African American history and co-editor of the memoirs, explores the legacy of Robert and Mabel Williams”radical Black freedom fighters who advocated for armed self-defense in the face of racial terror in the Jim Crow South. The conversation delves into their political activism, exile, and international solidarity work, including their time in Cuba and China, and their enduring impact on Black liberation movements in the U.S. and abroad. Tune in for an insightful discussion about resistance, love, and the global dimensions of Black struggle. Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post In Conversation with Akinyele Umoja: The Memoirs of Robert and Mabel Williams (Encore) appeared first on KPFA.

Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post Hard Knock Radio – October 27, 2025 appeared first on KPFA.

Hard Knock Radio opened on a somber note as host Davey D reflected on the passing of D’Angelo, coming just months after the loss of his former partner Angie Stone. To make sense of the moment and the legacy, Duke University scholar Mark Anthony Neal joined the show to map D’Angelo’s cultural footprint—far beyond the “sex symbol” frame that followed the “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” video. Neal places D’Angelo squarely in the lineage of serious Black musicianship: a church-trained multi-instrumentalist who fused gospel harmonies, jazz chops, and hip-hop’s rhythmic imagination into something both classic and radically new. Neal argues that “neo-soul” was always a marketing box; D’Angelo insisted he made “Black music,” period. That stance showed in the company he kept—Roy Hargrove, James Poyser, Questlove, and most centrally J Dilla—an ensemble of collaborators (the Soulquarians) who operated like a late-’90s/early-’00s Motown or Philly International. From “Brown Sugar” forward, D’Angelo’s records bent the sonic landscape: hip-hop drum science, jazz voicings, and gospel movement in dialogue. Neal notes the contradiction of Black genius under industry gaze: the body gets commodified, the music gets sidelined. D’Angelo’s decade-long retreat mirrors Sly Stone and Miles—a refusal to be reduced. Davey D connects that collective model to regional waves—Bay Area hyphy, Atlanta’s crunk, Houston’s screw, Dungeon Family/Organized Noize—reminding us that collaboration, not isolation, keeps Black music innovating. The conversation also locates D’Angelo within Virginia’s deep bench (Timbaland, Missy, Neptunes, Teddy Riley), with the Black church as incubator. Closing out, Neal highlights his latest book, Black Ephemera: The Crisis and the Challenge of the Musical Archive, calling for community control over Black cultural memory in an era of platform choke points and corporate firewalls. Pionion: If we honor D’Angelo’s legacy, we protect the ecosystems that birthed him—church bands, open studios, regional collectives—and we stop outsourcing discovery to platforms that mute dissent and flatten context. Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post Remembering D’Angelo with Prof. Mark Anthony Neal appeared first on KPFA.

In this Hard Knock Radio conversation, host Davey D sits down with educator and organizer Ty-Licia Hooker, executive director of The Children’s Education Project, to unpack Oakland’s literacy crisis and what it will take to fix it. Hooker traces the problem across generations—third-generation OUSD herself—recalling a sixth-grade class told they were “illiterate” and sent back to phonics. Today, she says, kindergarteners are expected to read complete sentences by year’s end; too many aren’t close, especially in the Flats, where public-school resources and expectations don’t match those in the Hills. Davey points to crowded classrooms, inconsistent adult support, and the invisible labor of parents juggling multiple jobs. Hooker agrees the issue is systemic—by design—and compounded by funding cuts, staffing shortages, and the basic cost of living pushing talented teachers out of Oakland. She urges community organizing: equip parents with specific questions for teachers, bring families into classrooms, and cut the red tape that keeps hundreds of local literacy programs from actually serving kids. When Davey presses on the real-life fatigue families feel, Hooker offers practical hacks: ten-minute timers, embedding reading and math into daily life (have your kid read game updates, count ingredients while you cook), and scheduling a weekly ritual (her “Miley Mondays”) to make learning consistent and joyful. For folks without kids, she flags underused employer-paid volunteer time at companies like Netflix, Levi’s, Verizon, Clif Bar, and even county agencies—hours that can become tutoring shifts if people simply sign up. The Children’s Education Project provides one-on-one tutoring aligned to OUSD curriculum, trains volunteers in academics and socio-emotional skills, and hosts community events—from book nights to grocery giveaways. Hooker’s bottom line: nobody’s coming to save us but us. Show up, get trained, and fight for the resources our kids deserve. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ On this Hard Knock Radio episode, Davey D opens with “Ancestors” by guest Miko Marks, framing her long road to wider recognition as audiences rediscover Southern Soul, Americana, and country through mainstream moments—from Beyoncé’s country pivot to Ryan Coogler’s recent work. Marks traces her journey from a 2005 traditional country debut to an expansive roots blend—blues, gospel, folk, jazz—after shedding industry boxes that once demanded a narrow look and sound. She recalls being one of only a few Black women positioned in country at the time (alongside Reese Palmer) and how labels subtly pitted artists against each other. Maturity, friendship, and craft ultimately refocused her on finding her own lane. The conversation pivots to The Nine Lives of Barbara Dane, the award-winning documentary for which Marks will perform. She sees kinship with Dane—another Midwestern artist who fused art and activism, genre freedom, and courage in hostile times. Marks explains how political honesty enters her songs naturally, citing “Goodnight America,” a lullaby for the nation’s transgressions that some misread as anti-American. For her, it’s about acknowledgement, healing, and renewal. That theme flows into “Lay Your Burdens Down,” a response to today’s weight of hypocrisy and uncertainty, urging shared lifting of collective pain. Asked about country music’s receptivity to social commentary, Marks says the genre has grown but still struggles with “good-old-boy” biases and gender inequity. She welcomes Beyoncé’s country album for spotlighting young Black women—broadening who gets seen and heard. After stepping away from recording for 14 years—an act of resistance against industry games—Marks returned on her own terms, prioritizing audience connection and artistic freedom. She’s now preparing a traditional blues project (including a Christmas...

Today on the show, we honor the revolutionary legacy of Bobby Seale — cofounder of the Black Panther Party — as the City of Oakland marks his 89th birthday with an official proclamation of “Bobby Seale Day” and a commemorative street renaming. We spoke with Bobby Seale about the history and legacy of the Panthers and his relationship with Huey P. Newton. Seale, born in Liberty, Texas, moved with his family to the Bay Area as a child, first settling in Albany’s Codornices Village before making North Oakland’s 57th Street his home. It was from this community that Seale helped launch one of the most influential social and political movements of the 20th century — the Black Panther Party — which reshaped the fight for racial justice, community empowerment, and self-determination. In addition to his work as an organizer and activist, Seale also ran for mayor of Oakland in 1973, signaling a new vision for political leadership rooted in the people’s needs. This evening, the City of Oakland will host a community block party to commemorate the official renaming of the intersection at 57th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way as Bobby Seale Way. The celebration will bring together family, friends, and generations of activists to reflect on his lasting impact. Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. “Bobby Seale” by Peizes is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. The post Bobby Seale and the History of the Black Panther Party appeared first on KPFA.

Hard Knock Radio brought together two Bay Area organizers working at the intersection of immigration defense and civil liberties: Eric from the Friends of La Peña Immigrant Rights Committee, and Marisa Almor of East Bay Sanctuary Covenant. The conversation cut through the noise and focused on how people can protect themselves—and each other—amid rising repression. The moment we’re in Listeners are seeing lines blur fast. Undocumented neighbors are targeted. Dissent is branded as “Antifa.” Eric called the landscape “very dark,” citing a breakdown of guardrails in Congress and the courts. Yet he also sees a counter-force: millions mobilizing to defend constitutional rights—immigrants included. Marisa’s perspective lands hard. She grew up with stories of Spain’s Franco dictatorship. The tools were familiar: surveillance, fear, and the chilling effect on everyday speech. She believes the current shift is bigger than a single community; it’s a political project widening its targets. Still, she notes, mass resistance is growing—and it doesn’t take a majority. “Roughly 3.5%” of the public can swing outcomes if organized and persistent. History rhymes—and warns We traced the parallels. COINTELPRO. The “war on drugs.” Today’s catch-all label of “Antifa.” The Black Panthers’ annihilation was named plainly. Eric and Marisa agreed: repression has long defined life for Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities. What’s new is its expansion and brazenness. That should push us toward deeper solidarity, not purity tests or selective speech limits—even within the left. Know Your Rights = first aid Marisa framed Know Your Rights as first aid for civic life. You hope you never need it. But you’ll wish you had it when it counts. Core guidance from the show: Stay silent until you have a lawyer. Do not consent to searches. Demand a judicial warrant (not an administrative ICE warrant). Record openly without interfering. Name the time, place, and officers if possible. Organize roles in the moment: one records, one calls the Rapid Response line, one gathers the impacted person’s info. Friends of La Peña has distributed ~140,000 “red and yellow” rights cards and is training court watchers; they also support asylum applications and the Adopt-a-Corner effort for day laborers. Action items Attend the workshop: Sat., Nov. 2, 2–4 pm at La Peña Cultural Center (3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley). Capacity ~150. Bring two friends. Learn, then train others. Volunteer: Court watch, rapid response, asylum support, community safety. Resources: Friends of La Peña Immigrant Rights Committee — flpir.org East Bay Sanctuary Covenant — eastbaysanctuary.org Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post Know Your Rights in a Shifting America: Lessons from the Frontline appeared first on KPFA.

Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson. The post Hard Knock Radio – October 20, 2025 appeared first on KPFA.