Host Davey D opens Hard Knock Radio by situating listeners in the aftermath of a horrific mass shooting in Stockton, where four young people were killed at a birthday party, and connects it to recent shootings in San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and across the Bay. He pushes back on simplistic narratives that blame “out-of-control gangs” or Hip Hop, and instead invites frontline workers from United Playaz — Rudy Corpuz, Jason Lacey, and Everett — to unpack the deeper mentality, systems, and trauma driving this violence.
Rudy stresses that this crisis is not new, just closer to home and more visible. He notes that many shootings never make the news, even as gun violence remains the leading cause of death for young people in the US. From his vantage point, there is effective work happening: United Playaz and similar groups are saving seven out of ten kids they touch, often working directly with shooters and youth in Juvenile Hall. He explains that many teens pick up guns out of fear and a refusal to remain victims, a dynamic made worse by bullying, lack of guidance, and social media “banging” that turns online talk into deadly conflict. Rudy also links school, prison, and social media as profit-driven systems that normalize Black and Brown death.
Jason builds on that by calling for a restorative justice mindset where society owns its role in creating these conditions. Growing up in Pomona, he says guns and gangs were a neighborhood “social norm,” and mass incarceration, militarized schools, and media demonization all pushed Black and Brown youth toward cages. After serving 25 years, he now uses his story to give young people real information about prison and alternatives to violence, emphasizing that it’s okay to care, to want better, and that everyone has a part to play in changing the culture.
Everett, who once faced the death penalty at 19, talks about internalizing a belief system that taught him not to care, and later realizing it was rooted in trauma and miseducation. He argues that intervention has to start from birth, surrounding children with positive environments and countering the lure of the block when school offers no visible payoff. All three guests stress mental health, healing, affirmation, and “living amends” — giving back after harm — as crucial to breaking cycles of violence. They close by urging community members of all backgrounds to join the work, support efforts like the United Playaz gun buyback, and choose connection over punishment as the path forward.
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.