KPFA - Hard Knock Radio

On Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D marks the 30th anniversary of the passing of Tupac Shakur, reflecting on the life, legacy, and lasting influence of one of hip-hop’s most important and complicated voices.

September 13, 2026, marks three decades since Tupac’s death at just 25 years old. Yet 30 years later, his music and message continue to resonate across generations. Beyond the records, celebrity, and controversies that often dominate conversations about Tupac, his work confronted racism, poverty, policing, incarceration, inequality, misogyny, and the everyday realities facing Black communities in America.

The conversation looks beyond the mythology surrounding Tupac to examine the political and social consciousness that shaped him—from his family’s connections to the Black Panther Party and Black liberation movements to the contradictions, vulnerability, anger, and hope that appeared throughout his music.

Davey D reflects on Tupac as both an artist and a product of a particular political moment, asking what gets remembered, what gets overlooked, and why his words continue to feel relevant in 2026. Three decades after his passing, Tupac remains more than a figure from hip-hop history—his life and work continue to provoke conversations about Black resistance, survival, justice, and the conditions he spent much of his short life speaking about.

Later in the program, we turn to Poor News Magazine, bringing the voices, stories, and perspectives of poor and unhoused communities too often ignored by mainstream media.

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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As the nation approaches 25 years since the September 11 attacks, Hard Knock Radio host Davey D sat down with UC Berkeley professors Hatem Bazian and Michael Mark Cohen to examine a part of the story too often overlooked: what happened after 9/11.

Bazian argued that the attacks gave the federal government an opening to expand policies that had been developing for decades. He connected the post-9/11 security apparatus to earlier government surveillance programs, the 1996 Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, and the passage of the Patriot Act. In his view, the War on Terror “rewired” the legal system, weakening privacy, protest, assembly and other constitutional protections.

Muslim communities bore the brunt of that transformation. Bazian described widespread surveillance of mosques, organizations and individuals, along with government informants and cases built around entrapment or what he called “preemptive prosecution.” These policies, he emphasized, eventually expanded beyond Muslim communities and became part of a broader system affecting activists, immigrants and political organizations.

Cohen challenged the popular image of post-9/11 America as a nation united by tragedy. That unity, he argued, was built around militarism, censorship and repression. People who questioned the Bush administration, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, or America’s foreign policy were frequently labeled unpatriotic and, in some cases, pushed out of their jobs or public platforms.

Davey D noted that Hip Hop artists were also targeted, despite more than 100 antiwar songs emerging from the culture. Artists including Boots Riley, KRS-One and De La Soul faced scrutiny, while a larger antiwar Hip Hop movement was largely erased from public memory.

The conversation also explored how post-9/11 surveillance evolved alongside smartphones, social media, algorithms and corporate data collection. Cohen described a direct line from warrantless government surveillance to a world where people carry devices that constantly collect information. At the same time, those technologies have documented police violence and allowed people to witness the devastation in Gaza in real time.

Both guests stressed the need to preserve history, strengthen local organizing and defend education. Cohen concluded that 9/11 should be understood not simply as a tragedy commemorated once a year, but as a historical portal for examining endless war, surveillance, political division and America’s changing position in the world.

Davey D introduces the conversation by asking what changed after 9/11, especially for generations too young to remember life before the attacks. Professor Hatem Bazian traces the War on Terror to earlier government surveillance programs, including COINTELPRO and the 1996 Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. He argues that 9/11 became the justification for weakening privacy, protest and constitutional protections. Bazian also discusses attacks on ethnic studies and the university’s declining role as a protected space for dissent.

Professor Michael Mark Cohen challenges the idea that Americans came together after 9/11. He argues that the country was mobilized for war while Arab Americans, Muslims and immigrants faced raids, surveillance and repression. Cohen connects this climate to censorship and the punishment of public figures who questioned the government. The conversation also examines how the War on Terror fractured both political parties and helped create openings for Barack Obama, Donald Trump and later political movements.

Bazian explains how “preemptive prosecution” allowed authorities to target people who had not committed crimes but were considered potential threats. He discusses the Patriot Act, government informants, mosque surveillance and entrapment cases. Cohen then connects these policies to today’s digital surveillance system. Smartphones, social media, metadata and street cameras created a world where government agencies and corporations continuously collect information. Davey describes social media as entertainment covering up a massive surveillance operation.

The guests examine the contradictions of digital technology. Phones and social media can expose police violence and document atrocities, but constant exposure can also overwhelm and desensitize people. Davey discusses how algorithms isolate communities and feed them customized racial resentment and political outrage. Cohen explains that anger drives online engagement and corporate profits. The segment closes with a discussion of 9/11 as a televised media event and the difficulty younger generations face when they have never been taught its broader history.

Cohen explains that many students have little knowledge of Hurricane Katrina, the 2008 financial collapse, the Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street. He argues that educators are confronting a growing war against history and critical scholarship. Davey asks how organizers can preserve evidence and protect physical records in a world where digital information can be altered or removed. Bazian calls for locally grounded organizing, free education, healthcare and access to basic necessities.

Cohen closes by arguing that 9/11 should not be isolated as a tragedy remembered once a year. It should be understood as a historical turning point that helps explain endless war, mass surveillance, censorship and the decline of American global power. He describes the post-9/11 period as the beginning of the end of the American empire and says Americans must reconsider their place within an increasingly multipolar world.

On Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D spoke with UC Berkeley professors Hatem Bazian and Michael Mark Cohen about how 9/11 transformed the United States far beyond the attacks themselves. Bazian argued that the War on Terror expanded government powers that had been developing since COINTELPRO and the 1996 Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. After 9/11, the Patriot Act, mass surveillance, government informants and “preemptive prosecution” weakened privacy and other constitutional protections. Muslim, Arab and immigrant communities were the first major targets, but the same tools eventually spread to activists, protesters and the wider public.

Cohen challenged the familiar story that 9/11 brought the country together, arguing that this supposed unity was built around militarism, censorship and the silencing of dissent. Davey highlighted the overlooked history of antiwar Hip Hop and the artists who were condemned for questioning the Bush administration. The conversation connected post-9/11 surveillance to smartphones, social media, corporate data collection and algorithms that profit from outrage and division. Both guests stressed that 9/11 must be studied as a historical turning point—one that helps explain endless war, political polarization, attacks on education and the erosion of civil liberties.

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 Professor Lina-Maria Murillo about the dismantling of ethnic studies and gender studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Murillo, an associate professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, explained that UT has consolidated African and African Diaspora Studies, Mexican American and Latino Studies, American Studies, and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies into one massive department.

Murillo argued that the move is part of a broader attack on higher education that accelerated following the multiracial protests and organizing sparked by the 2020 murder of George Floyd. That moment, she said, frightened powerful interests because young people were beginning to connect race, class, gender, policing, and economic inequality. Ethnic studies departments help students understand those connections, making them direct targets for conservative lawmakers and wealthy donors seeking to reshape public education.

Davey D connected the crackdown to what he called a “distraction ecosystem.” While voting rights, immigration enforcement, environmental injustice, and academic freedom are under attack, social media algorithms amplify cultural conflicts designed to divide Black, Latino, LGBTQ, and other marginalized communities. Murillo agreed, describing much of the outrage circulating online as manufactured “rage bait” that benefits billionaire-owned technology companies while pulling attention away from structural issues.

At UT Austin, the consolidation is being accompanied by the expansion of a heavily funded conservative academic structure centered around the School of Civic Leadership. Murillo said millions of dollars are being directed toward programs emphasizing Western civilization, while students are offered generous scholarships to enter those programs. At the same time, courses in African American history, Latino history, and gender studies are being removed from UT’s core curriculum.

Murillo emphasized that UT’s actions cannot be explained as a financial necessity. The university has enormous resources, but those resources are being redirected toward a competing ideological vision of education.

The conversation closed with a call to action. Murillo warned Californians not to assume they are protected, noting that austerity can accomplish what right-wing legislation is doing elsewhere. She urged listeners to contact elected officials, investigate what is happening at local colleges, and defend the ability of faculty and students to teach, organize, and imagine more just futures.

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 Assault on Ethnic Studies: Professor Lina-Maria Murillo Sounds the Alarm appeared first on KPFA.

Hard Knock Radio host Davey D sat down with filmmaker and cultural organizer David Roach to discuss the 24th annual Oakland International Film Festival, an 11-day celebration of independent cinema, community conversation and stories too often pushed outside the mainstream.

Roach reflected on how dramatically filmmaking and distribution have changed since the festival began. Digital projection and streaming have made it easier to create and circulate films, but Davey D questioned whether that access is as open as it appears. With a handful of billionaires controlling major platforms, filmmakers with challenging political messages can still be buried, censored or shut out.

That concern lies at the heart of the festival’s mission. Roach emphasized the need to build independent platforms where filmmakers can tell their own stories and communities can see themselves without having their experiences diluted or filtered through Hollywood.

This year’s lineup reaches from Oakland to Italy, Colombia and other parts of the world. Featured films explore Native history, domestic violence, gun control, gentrification, political organizing, Hip Hop, food, cultural preservation and resistance. A People of the West examines the relationship between Red Power and Black Power, while Set Her Free follows women who fought to change laws affecting survivors of domestic violence imprisoned for defending themselves.

Other highlights include Free Speech Costs Plenty, comedian Donald Lacy’s examination of censorship and political comedy; Guardians of Oakland Chinatown, which documents residents protecting elders, schools and neighborhood institutions; and films honoring Oakland community advocate Bill Patterson and beloved musician and educator Dr. Loco.

The conversation also explored Hip Hop’s international reach. Davey D praised a film documenting Italy’s politically engaged Hip Hop movement, where artists and activists resisted fascism, defended community spaces and pushed back against record companies seeking to weaken their message.

Roach stressed that the festival is about more than watching movies. Extended panels allow filmmakers to explain their creative journeys, exchange knowledge and engage directly with audiences. Screenings are paired with food, music, networking and community gatherings throughout Oakland.

Ultimately, the Oakland International Film Festival offers more than entertainment. It creates a space where people can laugh, cry, learn, debate and leave inspired to protect their communities and tell their own stories.

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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Today on Hard Knock Radio, we sit down with acclaimed children’s author, illustrator, and teaching artist Tiffany Golden for a conversation about Black childhood, sisterhood, imagination, and the importance of young people seeing the fullness of themselves reflected in the stories they read.

At the center of our conversation is Golden’s latest book, Rikki & Rai: The Everyday and Sometimes Epic Adventures of the Tucker Sisters, a funny and heartfelt celebration of two sisters navigating family, friendship, and the unexpected adventures tucked inside everyday life.

We also discuss Golden’s picture books I Want to Be Big and Wash Day, her work as a teaching artist, and why creating spaces where Black children can be curious, imaginative, complicated, joyful, and gloriously themselves matters.

It’s a conversation about storytelling, representation, creativity, and reminding young people that their lives—and their stories—are worthy of being seen, heard, and celebrated.

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 Black Childhood, Big Imagination: Tiffany Golden on Storytelling, Sisterhood, and Joy [Rebroadcast] appeared first on KPFA.

On Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D sat down with Hieroglyphics members Tajai, Domino and A-Plus for a wide-ranging conversation about the collective’s 35-year legacy, its new album, All Said and Done, and the continued evolution of one of Oakland’s most influential Hip Hop crews. Domino traced Hiero’s recording history back to Del the Funky Homosapien’s 1991 debut, I Wish My Brother George Was Here. While the anniversaries provide an opportunity to reflect, the group emphasized that it remains focused on creating, touring and building for the future. A-Plus described the milestones as reminders to be grateful, especially for the lasting impact of the Souls of Mischief classic “93 ’til Infinity,” which continues attracting younger listeners more than three decades after its release.

The conversation turned to All Said and Done, a self-produced project featuring production from Domino, A-Plus and DJ Toure. Tajai described the album as an expression of growth and maturity rather than a comeback or an attempt to recreate the past. The group used crowdsourcing to help market and promote the completed record while giving longtime supporters a tangible role in the project. That direct relationship with listeners has long defined Hieroglyphics. After leaving the major-label system, the collective became an early adopter of the internet, using its website and the Hiero Hoopla chat room to communicate directly with fans and build an independent movement.

Davey D also explored Hiero’s long history of technological innovation. Domino and A-Plus said they experimented with AI platforms to understand them but did not use AI to produce the new album. Both stressed that technology can be a useful tool, but it should not replace imagination, musicianship or the struggle involved in developing an original sound.

That emphasis on creativity extends to Hiero Day, which Tajai described as a multigenerational celebration featuring established performers, emerging artists, DJs, dancers, children’s activities and local businesses. The festival has previously showcased rising talents such as Anderson .Paak, Freddie Gibbs, Kehlani and Larry June.

Looking ahead, Hieroglyphics plans a steady stream of collective and solo releases, including the Souls of Mischief EP Clean Getaway. The crew is also exploring live-action and animated projects. As A-Plus explained, Hiero’s mission is rooted in history and legacy—but also in asking what comes next.

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 a recent episode of Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D sat down with longtime educator, organizer, and PhD Dr. Hodari Davis to discuss the powerful work of Young, Gifted, and Black (YGB), an Oakland-based youth performance organization rooted in Black history and the oral tradition.

Founded in 1981 in Ithaca, New York by Dr. Davis’s mother and three other career teachers, YGB trains young people ages 8–18 to recite, perform, and embody the words of Black poets, activists, and historians — from Paul Lawrence Dunbar to Malcolm X to contemporary hip-hop artists. Dr. Davis, himself a YGB alumnus, described the organization as a living continuum of a tradition stretching back to the 1830s, when abolitionist Susan Paul used youth voices to raise funds and restore the humanity of African American people.

Central to the conversation was the power of the oral tradition. Both Davey D and Dr. Davis challenged the notion that speaking, reciting, and chanting are “extracurricular” — arguing instead that these practices are fundamental to Black culture and survival, from the Middle Passage through today. “Our voices were reminders that we were human beings,” Dr. Davis said, “at a time when the world was trying to tell us something different.”

The two also confronted the growing assault on Black education, with Davey D pointing to curriculum restrictions spreading well beyond Texas and Florida into California communities. Dr. Davis invoked the concept of “fugitive pedagogy” — the necessary practice of teaching Black history through alternative channels when mainstream institutions fail or actively suppress it.

YGB meets at Oakland School for the Arts and is currently recruiting young people. Families and event organizers can visit Proud2BeBlack.org to learn more, enroll youth, or book the group for performances.

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 Young, Gifted, and Black: Preserving the Oral Tradition in the Age of Educational Suppression appeared first on KPFA.

On Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D spoke with KPFA’s Frank Sterling Jr. and fashion designer Meeka Starr about the unresolved death of Timothy Charles Lee and a community effort to keep his name, dreams and demand for justice alive.

Lee was a 23 year old Black, Native American and gay man who hoped to become a fashion designer. He had recently received a scholarship to study fashion in Milan when he was found hanging from a tree near the Concord BART station on November 2, 1985. Authorities ruled his death a suicide, but his family has challenged that conclusion for more than 40 years.

Sterling, Lee’s first cousin, detailed evidence the family believes points toward foul play. He said witnesses heard screams and reported seeing several people surrounding someone near a car, with a uniformed officer standing nearby. Sterling also noted that two Black men were stabbed by men wearing Ku Klux Klan clothing at a bar near the station that same night. The ligature used in Lee’s hanging was reportedly destroyed within 24 hours.

Davey D connected Lee’s case to other suspicious hangings ruled suicides and to the history of organized racism within Contra Costa County. The conversation also examined how racial hostility can remain hidden beneath the Bay Area’s multicultural image.

Meeka Starr is helping organize a fashion show honoring Lee’s creative aspirations. She described the event as a way to celebrate who Lee was while bringing renewed attention to his case. The show will feature Bay Area models, LGBTQIA+ performers and designers, including Starr’s X Labels clothing line.

The event takes place September 19 at Club 1220 in Walnut Creek. Organizers are encouraging people to attend, sign the petition to reopen Lee’s case and support the Rainbow Community Center. For Sterling, the goal is larger than remembrance: it is about correcting the official record, uncovering the truth and pursuing accountability while there is still time.

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 continued his coverage of Oakland’s escalating crackdown on street vendors. Joined by longtime vendor and organizer Needa B, Fruitvale volunteer organizer Emily, and food entrepreneur David Hines, the conversation examined how aggressive enforcement is threatening livelihoods while undermining one of Oakland’s most important cultural and economic traditions.

Davey opened by contrasting Oakland’s treatment of vendors with cities in Southern California that have adopted more supportive policies. He questioned why city trucks were being deployed to confiscate and destroy thousands of dollars’ worth of food and equipment while illegal dumping remained untouched throughout many neighborhoods.

Needa B said officials had previously promised that the seizures would stop and that vendors would have a seat at the table. Instead, she said, enforcement returned even more aggressively, including an incident in which a vendor was allegedly assaulted and choked. Needa connected the crackdown to a larger climate of anti-immigrant hostility and gentrification, arguing that officials celebrate Oakland’s culture while pushing out the people who create and sustain it.

Emily described the contradiction of Oakland and Alameda County presenting themselves as sanctuaries for immigrants while their own agencies harass immigrant vendors. Although street vending is legal under California law, she explained that confusing permit requirements, high startup costs and inadequate language access make compliance nearly impossible—particularly for Indigenous Central American vendors who may not speak English or Spanish.

David Hines, owner of Chicken Pimp 510 LLC, described moving from restaurant work into street vending after his former restaurant closed. Despite having a seller’s permit, paying taxes and attempting to work with the health department, Hines said officials confiscated and discarded his food while threatening him and his wife.

“They rolled up on us like we were selling dope,” Hines recalled. “And I’m just trying to sell chicken wings.”

The guests called for an immediate end to the sweeps, affordable equipment and commissary access, multilingual assistance, funding and genuine vendor participation in policymaking. They also emphasized that vendors provide affordable food, circulate money locally and contribute to neighborhood safety.

The conversation concluded with a call for unity and public pressure through the Oakland Street Vendors Collective. As Davey noted, Oakland should strengthen the people already feeding and sustaining its communities—not criminalize them.

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 a recent episode of Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D sat down with Dr. Rosa Clemente — journalist, freedom fighter, and longtime show guest — to discuss political education, the erasure of history, and the current state of progressive politics.

Clemente opened by sharing the success of her ongoing seminar, “The Black Puerto Rican Radical Tradition,” which has drawn over 100 participants across five sessions. The course centers Pan-Africanism and Puerto Rican nationalism, connecting 126 years of colonial history to present-day struggles over identity and power. She emphasized that despite growing visibility around Afro-Latino identity on social media, most conversations stop at food and culture rather than engaging the deeper political and resistance traditions. The seminar, which runs five consecutive Sundays and carries a modest fee, has attracted participants ranging from 20-year-olds to 74-year-olds, including professors and people in Puerto Rico, the diaspora, and abroad.

Both Davey D and Clemente addressed the coordinated erasure of Black and Brown history from schools, museums, and universities — with Clemente pointing to the gutting of humanities programs nationwide, citing Syracuse University’s dismantlement of its communications department as one example. She also highlighted the removal of Kehinde Wiley’s 2013 painting from the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic, covered with an American flag tarp, as a stark symbol of how cultural suppression is being enforced at every level.

The conversation shifted to a sharp critique of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, with Clemente calling both officials out as anti-Black. She pointed to AOC laughing off “wokenism” during a national interview and Mamdani declaring police to be “partners” — promises broken within months of taking office. Clemente argued that neither figure centers Blackness in their politics and that their brand of Democratic Socialism, rooted in an organization that is 85% white, fails Black and Brown communities by design.

Clemente closed by urging listeners to follow the Feminist Collective of Puerto Rico and to pay attention to the island’s deepening water and infrastructure crisis, where municipalities go without water every other day while San Juan’s hotels remain fully supplied.

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