KPFA - Hard Knock Radio

On Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D sat down with Bay Area author Adam Mansbach to discuss his new book, Go the F to College, the sequel to his bestselling parenting satire Go the F to Sleep. Mansbach, known for books like Angry Black White Boy, The Golem of Brooklyn, Rage Is Back, and his screenplay for the Netflix film Barry, returned to HKR for a funny, reflective, and surprisingly tender conversation about parenting, politics, and watching children grow up.

Davey opened by recalling a personal memory from years ago, when Mansbach struggled for more than an hour to get his young daughter Viv to sleep. Mansbach explained that those exhausting nights, filled with love, frustration, and parental helplessness, helped inspire Go the F to Sleep. Now, 15 years later, Viv is 18, graduating from Oakland School for the Arts, and preparing to attend Bard College.

The conversation moved beyond humor into deeper reflections on parenting. Mansbach described Go the F to College as less angry and more emotional than the first book. It is about the complicated feelings parents face when their children leave home. He talked about wanting to offer last minute lessons, while also recognizing that no one enters adulthood fully prepared.

Davey and Mansbach also explored how today’s young people are navigating a world shaped by COVID, political instability, disinformation, social media, and rising uncertainty. Mansbach stressed the importance of media literacy, noting how difficult it is for young people to know where reliable information comes from in an age of podcasts, TikTok, deepfakes, and AI generated content.

A key theme was the changing meaning of college. Mansbach made clear that Go the F to College is not an endorsement of a broken higher education system. Instead, it reflects the emotional reality of sending a child into the world. He emphasized that a college name should not define a person, and that young people need to know they are loved beyond achievements, status, or credentials.

The interview closed with Mansbach highlighting community, Bay Area values, activism, and mutual aid as essential tools for the next generation. He also revealed that Ted Danson narrates the audiobook, following past celebrity readers Samuel L. Jackson, Bryan Cranston, and Larry David.

At its heart, the conversation was about love, letting go, and preparing young people to face an uncertain world with humor, honesty, and community.

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.

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On Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D spoke with longtime organizer and Pan-Africanist Netfa Freeman about reports that the Trump administration pressured Zambia to exchange mineral rights for continued U.S. health aid, including support for HIV and AIDS programs.

Freeman, who works with the Black Alliance for Peace and WPFW in Washington, D.C., said the controversy reflects a broader U.S. policy shift toward Africa. Rather than presenting foreign aid as humanitarian, he argued, Washington is becoming more openly transactional, tying assistance to access to strategic minerals such as copper, cobalt and coltan.

Davey D asked Freeman to give listeners a “Zambia 101,” noting that many people may not understand the country’s history or importance. Freeman explained that Zambia, formerly Northern Rhodesia, gained independence in 1964 after a struggle against British colonial rule. He emphasized that Africa’s modern borders were created by European powers and that many African countries remain trapped in neocolonial economic relationships.

Freeman pointed to Zambia’s copper reserves as central to the current conflict. Copper, he said, is increasingly important for electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, data centers and military technology. That makes Zambia a key target in the global race for resources.

The conversation also explored whether Trump represents a break from previous administrations. Freeman argued that Trump is building on groundwork laid by Obama and Biden, especially through AFRICOM and the expansion of U.S. military influence across Africa. What is different, he said, is that Trump’s approach is more blatant.

Davey D and Freeman also discussed China, Russia, Israel, Arab states, Libya, Palestine and the need for deeper political education. Freeman warned against broad stereotypes and urged listeners to distinguish between ruling classes and ordinary people.

He closed by encouraging listeners to connect with African Liberation Day efforts, study revolutionary movements on the continent and support organizations like Black Alliance for Peace.

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.

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On Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D spoke with critical media literacy scholar and author Nolan Higdon about his new book, MAG Academy, a sharp examination of the long running assault on higher education.

Higdon argued that the current attacks on universities did not begin with Donald Trump. Instead, he traced the crisis back decades to neoliberal policies that turned colleges into corporate operations. In his view, both major political parties helped create the conditions for today’s campus crackdowns by weakening faculty power, expanding student debt, and transforming education into a job training marketplace.

Davey D opened the conversation by pointing to recent restrictions at UC Berkeley, a campus long associated with free speech. He described how some students now see the university as restrictive and hostile to dissent. Higdon agreed, saying universities often sell students the mythology of 1960s activism while micromanaging them once they arrive.

A major focus of the interview was student debt. Higdon explained how public disinvestment, rising tuition, and federally backed private loans created a system where students are treated as customers. Colleges compete by selling an “experience” rather than prioritizing learning, while students take on mortgage sized debt before they even enter the workforce.

Higdon also discussed the rise of adjunct labor. He noted that tenure track faculty once made up the majority of professors, but now many instructors are part time or non tenure workers juggling multiple campuses. That weakens unions, isolates faculty, and makes it harder to resist administrative overreach.

The conversation also explored DEI, COVID, campus surveillance, and the political weaponization of higher education. Higdon distinguished between meaningful diversity and corporate DEI, arguing that universities often use inclusive language while maintaining exploitative structures.

As the interview closed, Higdon called for students and faculty to rebuild real community, not just online activism. He urged people to resist authoritarian policies, defend public education, and reimagine the university as a democratic space rooted in learning, knowledge production, and community accountability.

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.

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On Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D sat down with community activist and journalist Jesse Strauss and longtime civil rights attorney Walter Riley to discuss their new book, Civil Rights and Structural Attacks: Conversations with Walter Riley. The conversation explored Riley’s decades of movement work, the importance of preserving radical history, and the lessons today’s organizers can draw from past freedom struggles.

Strauss explained that the book is not simply a memoir or archive. It is an intergenerational conversation with a movement elder who remains active in the fight for justice. He described Riley as someone who has been deeply involved in civil rights, labor, anti war, Black liberation, and community organizing efforts, while never treating movement work as something confined to the past.

Riley reflected on the current political moment, saying he was not surprised by the rise of authoritarian politics, though he did not expect it to take its current form. He connected today’s crisis to earlier political betrayals, especially the Reagan era, when he felt liberal institutions failed to defend working people, poor people, and communities under attack.

A major theme of the interview was historical erasure. Riley spoke about growing up in Durham, North Carolina, in a community shaped by sharecropping, segregation, and the living memory of slavery. He recalled how his family and community carried traditions of resistance, dignity, and self defense. One striking story involved his father confronting sheriffs who were threatening the family after Riley married a white Freedom Rider during the Jim Crow era.

The conversation also challenged sanitized versions of the Civil Rights Movement. Riley argued that activists were not simply trying to “integrate” into white society. They were attacking the structure of white supremacy and asserting their full humanity. He emphasized that working class Black communities played a central role in direct action movements, though their contributions are often minimized.

Riley also shared memories of working with Floyd McKissick and meeting Malcolm X as a 19 year old organizer. Strauss highlighted chapters on nonprofit imperialism, Haiti solidarity work, and movement capture in Oakland after Oscar Grant.

By the end, the book emerged as more than a historical record. It is a call to study, organize, build solidarity, and keep movement culture alive. As Strauss put it, the goal is not nostalgia. The goal is to win.

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.

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Hard Knock Radio: Voting Rights Under Attack and the Fight Ahead

(HKR-05-04-26)

On this episode of Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D brings together two powerful voices, Rukia Lumumba of the Movement for Black Lives and Dr. James Taylor, political scientist, to unpack the far-reaching impact of the Supreme Court’s decision weakening the Voting Rights Act.

Rukia Lumumba, speaking from Mississippi, grounds the conversation in lived reality. She explains that the ruling has already emboldened lawmakers to revisit and potentially dismantle recently approved voting maps that increased Black representation. For Lumumba, this is not new terrain. Mississippi has long been a battleground for voting rights, and what is happening now echoes the same strategies used decades ago to suppress Black political power.

She stresses a critical point: what happens in the South does not stay in the South. From immigration raids that tore apart hundreds of families to the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Lumumba notes that policies tested in places like Mississippi often spread nationwide. Her focus, however, is not just on resistance, but on building. She highlights grassroots strategies like People’s Assemblies, door knocking, and community-based organizing that helped stop a state takeover of Jackson’s school district. Her message is clear—voting alone is not enough. Sustained, everyday engagement is essential.

Dr. James Taylor follows with a broader historical lens. He frames the Supreme Court decision as part of a long-term political project stretching back to Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, now culminating in the current political moment. Taylor compares today’s rollback of voting rights to the end of Reconstruction in 1877, when Black political gains were violently reversed.

He underscores how transformative the Voting Rights Act has been, expanding Black political representation from just over a thousand elected officials pre-1965 to tens of thousands today. That progress, he argues, is precisely what is under attack. Taylor also offers a sobering analysis of racism in America, describing it as a structural force that has never been fully dismantled and remains central to the nation’s political identity.

Together, Lumumba and Taylor paint a stark picture, but also point toward a path forward. Both emphasize the need for political education, community organizing, and unity. As Davey D notes, the moment demands more than symbolic participation. It requires collective effort, strategic thinking, and a renewed commitment to building power from the ground up.

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On this episode of Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D brings together two seasoned artist organizers, Gonzalo “G1” of Rebel Diaz and Mic Crenshaw, for a timely conversation on the meaning of May Day and the political terrain shaping today’s struggles. Framed by music that has long served as a soundtrack for resistance, the discussion highlights how culture remains central to organizing efforts across communities.

G1 reflects on Rebel Diaz’s powerful rendition of “Which Side Are You On,” tracing its roots to the 2006 immigrant rights movement and the fight against the Sensenbrenner Bill. Inspired by the case of Elvira Arellano, the song emerged as a call to choose between systems of profit and war or solidarity with working people. Nearly two decades later, its global resonance underscores the enduring nature of these struggles and the interconnectedness of movements worldwide.

Davey D emphasizes the necessity of cultural expression in sustaining movements, noting how music, art, and storytelling have historically fueled resistance, from civil rights to anti apartheid struggles. He points to the group’s Bronx cultural center as an example of grassroots organizing that was ultimately shut down, illustrating the challenges faced by those building community driven spaces.

Mic Crenshaw expands the conversation to Portland, describing ongoing battles against state repression and the criminalization of dissent. He situates May Day within a global framework, connecting local struggles to broader systems of exploitation rooted in what he calls the “imperial core.” Crenshaw stresses that resistance must take many forms, from frontline protest to community care, and cautions against performative activism detached from real conditions.

G1 brings an international perspective, linking current U.S. conditions to Chile’s history under dictatorship and neoliberal restructuring. He argues that today’s economic shifts are expanding systems of control while reducing the perceived need for labor, making grassroots organizing and mutual aid essential for survival.

Throughout the conversation, both guests highlight the urgent need for political education and cultural investment. From classrooms to community spaces and even correctional facilities, they stress building critical thinking, fostering relationships, and reclaiming culture as a core organizing tool.

The discussion closes with a reminder that movements are sustained not just by protest, but by everyday acts of solidarity, collective care, and intentional connection.

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.

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Davey D of Hard Knock Radio spoke with Mohamed Shehk of AROC, the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, about May Day actions, ICE, immigrant detention, and the growing need for multiracial solidarity.

Shehk began by explaining that AROC provides legal services, community support, advocacy, and organizing for Arab and Muslim communities in the Bay Area. He stressed that these communities are also facing the broader wave of federal attacks on immigrants, workers, and politically vulnerable people.

A major focus was the case of Hanni, a Palestinian man recently freed from ICE detention after a legal campaign by AROC. According to Shehk, Hanni was detained after a routine immigration check in and held for nine months despite having pancreatic cancer. He was denied proper medical care, adequate food, and access to food and water during Ramadan. His condition worsened so badly that he was found unconscious in his cell, prompting urgent legal action.

Davey D pushed for a clearer picture of detention conditions, noting that many people may imagine immigration detention as something less severe than prison. Shehk made clear that these facilities operate like prisons, often using repurposed jails or punitive sites that were already considered inadequate.

The conversation also explored how different immigrant communities are targeted through specific stereotypes. Davey D noted how Latinos, Haitians, Africans, Arabs, and Muslims are often criminalized through different narratives that justify state violence. Shehk responded that Arab and Muslim immigrants are often targeted through blanket xenophobic stereotypes, regardless of nationality or politics.

They also discussed May Day as a moment to show collective power. Shehk connected immigrant rights, workers’ rights, opposition to ICE, attacks on voting rights and schools, and U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza. He argued that communities must not allow fear or isolation to keep them from organizing.

Shehk highlighted several Bay Area actions, including protests at Oakland Airport, San Francisco Airport, Civic Center, Embarcadero, and Fruitvale. He encouraged listeners to visit BayResistance.org for details on May Day events across the region.

Later on in this episode of Hard Knock Radio, guest host Kalonji Changa of Black Power Media sits down with political prisoner and revolutionary journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, widely known as the Voice of the Voiceless.

After more than 42 years behind prison walls, Mumia offers a sobering and urgent perspective on the current political climate and the expanding crackdown on dissent.

In this powerful conversation, we examine:

The continuum of state surveillance ” from COINTELPRO to the modern-day targeting of the Black press.

We also trace the roots of Mumias revolutionary journey ” from organizing on neighborhood street corners to his work with the Black Panther Party. He reflects on the freedom fighters and mentors who shaped his political consciousness and gave him the courage to wield the pen and microphone as tools of resistance.

This is more than a history lesson ” its a blueprint for political awakening and a meditation on the enduring struggle for truth, justice, and liberation.

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 May Day Actions, ICE, Immigrant Detention, and the Growing need for Multiracial Solidarity – And Mumia Abu-Jamal on Liberation appeared first on KPFA.

On Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D sat down with housing advocate Evangeline Byars of the People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft for a sobering conversation about how Black families, especially elders, are being stripped of homes and generational wealth through a web of legal manipulation, fraud, and institutional neglect. Byars made clear that deed theft is not a new problem, but one that has long targeted vulnerable communities and now shows up in especially devastating ways for Black seniors between ages 65 and 100. She explained that many younger people involved in this fight are family members or community advocates trying to protect elders whose homes and assets are under attack.

A major focus of the interview was how guardianship and conservatorship systems can become tools for abuse. Byars described how once a senior is placed under court control, they can lose authority over their finances, property, and even contact with family. In those situations, guardians can sell homes, drain pensions, and redirect assets with little meaningful oversight. Davey D connected this to his own family experience in Florida, noting how expensive and difficult it was to fight off an outside effort to take control of his fathers affairs. That personal story helped underline just how widespread and predatory these systems can be.

Byars argued that deed theft often works as part of a broader crime network involving courts, developers, lawyers, and complicit public officials. She described cases in New York and Georgia where homes were allegedly sold without proper legal standing, families were cut out of the process, and elders with clear plans for their estates still lost control of property worth millions. She also stressed that these schemes often use trusted looking intermediaries, including people from the same community, to gain access to struggling homeowners.

The conversation also placed deed theft in a larger historical context. Davey D drew connections between this crisis, the crack era, predatory lending, foreclosure waves, urban renewal, and gentrification. Byars agreed, saying these attacks on Black property ownership are deeply connected and thrive when communities are not organized. She called for stronger family planning, including trusts and estate preparation, and urged listeners to rebuild local organizing capacity.

Before closing, Byars invited people to get involved with the Peoples Coalition to Stop Deed Theft, stressing that this is not just a New York issue but a national one demanding urgency, education, and collective action.

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. 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.

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On Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D sat down with acclaimed poet, recording artist, organizer and activist Aja Monet for a wide ranging conversation about poetry, Hip Hop, Black expression and her new album The Color of Rain.

The conversation opened with Davey D reflecting on Monet’s song “Black Joy,” joking that her poems kept him calm during a long traffic delay on the Bay Bridge. Monet embraced that idea, saying poems can make people “a little bit more communal” and help listeners find calm inside intensity.

Monet traced her roots back to Brooklyn, where she grew up around open mics, poetry spaces and Hip Hop culture. She credited Urban Word NYC and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe as key places that shaped her voice. She described the Nuyorican as more than a poetry venue. It was also a Hip Hop space where MCs, poets, comedians and performers sharpened their craft together.

A major theme of the interview was the difference between spoken word and poetry. Monet explained that poetry involves craft, technique, rhythm, metaphor, tone and meaning. She pushed back against elitist traditions that dismiss Black oral traditions as lesser forms of art. For Monet, great MCs are poets because their words carry soul, precision and emotional power.

Davey D and Monet also discussed conviction. Monet noted that conviction can be powerful, but it must be examined. Poetry, she said, demands honesty and forces the artist to confront contradictions.

The second half of the conversation focused on The Color of Rain. Monet said the title came from a studio moment when she described feeling like “the color of rain.” She liked the mystery of the phrase because it allows listeners to decide what that color means.

Monet credited Meshell Ndegeocello and Justin Brown as central architects of the album’s sound. She described the project as deeply collaborative, featuring musicians including Georgia Anne Muldrow, Corey Henry, Novena Carmel and others. She also shared the moving story behind “Elsewhere,” a song honoring Sly Stone and created in community with his daughter Novena.

The interview closed with Monet naming Ntozake Shange, June Jordan, Jayne Cortez, Sekou Sundiata and Sonia Sanchez among her Mount Kilimanjaro of poets.

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.

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(HKR-04-27-26):On Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D spoke with writer, social commentator and conflict mediator Juno Aventurine about identity politics, cancel culture and the tensions showing up in contemporary leftist spaces.

Aventurine began by distinguishing identity politics from what she calls leftist identitarianism. She noted that identity politics grew out of the Combahee River Collective, a group of Black lesbian feminist socialists who argued that broader movements often failed to address their specific experiences of oppression. Aventurine said that tradition remains valuable. The problem, she argued, comes when identity becomes the only lens used to understand people, power or conflict.

Davey D pushed the conversation into real world movement spaces, where disagreements can quickly turn into accusations. He raised concerns about people using identity as a way to claim authority, shut down debate or label others as harmful without deeper dialogue. Aventurine agreed, saying identity can offer important insight, but it should not automatically replace critical thinking, political judgment or curiosity.

The discussion also explored how slogans like “listen to Black women” or “listen to Indigenous people” can be meaningful in liberation movements, but also complicated when people within those groups hold conflicting politics. Aventurine warned against treating any identity group as politically uniform. Doing so, she said, erases real differences and can mirror the very supremacist thinking movements claim to oppose.

As a conflict mediator, Aventurine emphasized listening for underlying needs rather than simply reacting to opinions or mistakes. She said not every conflict can be fully resolved, but people can still create boundaries without condemning one another or turning disagreement into exile.

Davey D also raised the problem of social media, algorithms and monetized outrage. Aventurine said online platforms often reward divisive takes, narrow definitions and public shaming. She encouraged people to seek fuller conversations through books, essays, long form podcasts and in person dialogue.

The interview closed with a focus on accountability. Aventurine argued that criticism is necessary, but accountability should not become punishment, coercion or moral condemnation. Her call was for more curiosity, more humility and less fear in movement spaces.

Juno Aventurine can be followed on Instagram and TikTok at @juno_aventurine, and through her Substack writings at Juno Aventurine Substack

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