Hard Knock reaches back to the voices of past freedom fighters and independent thinkers for words of wisdom and inspiration.
Civil rights icon and movement lawyer Chokwe Lumumba closed the Hurricane Katrina Tribunal with a fiery indictment of U.S. government failures—from FEMA to local law enforcement—in the wake of the 2005 disaster. Speaking before a packed People’s Court on September 2, 2007, Lumumba didn’t mince words. He framed the government’s actions not just as negligence, … Continued
🏛️ Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney Former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney delivers a galvanizing speech that connects the dots between federal abandonment, racialized neglect, and the privatization of disaster recovery. With the sharpness of a seasoned legislator and the fire of a grassroots advocate, McKinney lays bare the political failures that exacerbated Katrina’s destruction—and calls on … Continued
Listeners are transported back to September 2, 2007, as the Katrina Tribunal convened in New Orleans. The panel features three profoundly influential voices: David Banner “We Were the Rescue Team”: David Banner Speaks on Hurricane Katrina, Hip Hop’s Response, and Reclaiming the Narrative In this gripping interview with Hard Knock Radio, Mississippi rapper, producer, and activist David … Continued
On this episode of Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D sat down with lawyer, journalist, and author Malaika Jabali to unpack her new book It’s Not You, It’s Capitalism. Drawing on her legal background and years of political reporting, Jabali challenges the myths surrounding capitalism and reframes our relationship to money, struggle, and systemic inequality. Jabali explains that the idea for the book … Continued
On this edition of Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D sits down with Kamau Franklin—organizer, lawyer, and co-editor of No Cop City, No Cop World: Lessons from the Movement—for a deep and revealing conversation about the grassroots struggle in Atlanta and what it means for movements across the country. Franklin lays out the origins of the “Stop Cop City” … Continued
This audio captures the charged atmosphere on the day the verdict was announced in the trial of the BART police officer who murdered Oscar Grant III. We hear the voices of community members expressing a complex mix of frustration, grief, hope, and determination. From the streets of Oakland to community gatherings, people speak on what … Continued
In this conversation, author and journalist Thandisizwe Chimurenga discusses her book No Doubt: The Murder(s) of Oscar Grant, a searing analysis of the 2009 police killing of Oscar Grant III and the social, legal, and political fallout that followed. Chimurenga examines the role of media, the justice system, and grassroots resistance in shaping the public … Continued
This powerful audio piece captures the raw emotion and collective outrage following the fatal police shooting of Oscar Grant III by a BART officer on January 1, 2009. Through a mix of protest chants, speeches, and reflections from community members, we hear the voices that rose up in the streets demanding justice. The audio also … Continued
In this conversation, we reflect on the 2009 police shooting of Oscar Grant by a BART officer and explore how the public response—fueled by bystander cell phone footage, community outrage, and mass protests—helped lay the groundwork for what would later become the Black Lives Matter movement. While BLM was officially founded in 2013, the mobilization … Continued
