On a recent edition of Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D sat down with organizer and scholar Dr Rosa Clemente to map the rapidly shifting political terrain from New York City to Puerto Rico and the wider Caribbean. The conversation opened with the historic election of Zorhan Mandami as mayor elect of New York, a Ugandan born South Asian New Yorker whose grassroots, affordability focused campaign energized younger voters and social media organizers. Clemente celebrated the breakthrough but warned that winning and governing are different battles, especially with Wall Street, big business, and the NYPD already poised to undermine him.
She flagged early red flags in his choice of advisers, including the possibility of retaining NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch, who has refused to meet families seeking justice for loved ones killed or harmed by police. For Clemente, Mandami will be judged the first time NYPD officers brutalize or kill a Black or Brown New Yorker under his watch and on whether he shuts down Rikers and backs true city controlled affordable housing. Davey D broadened the lens to the national security state, noting NYPDs close ties to ICE and the danger of problematic officers shifting into federal agencies with even less accountability.
From there, the discussion moved to militarization in the Caribbean. Clemente detailed a new buildup of US warships using Puerto Rico as a staging ground for possible moves on Venezuela, framed as drug interdiction but carried out through deadly attacks on small fishing boats. She tied this to Puerto Ricos colonial status, a right wing governor who started Latinos for Trump, deep poverty, gentrification fueled by tax breaks and tourism, and renewed independence sentiment in a younger, more politicized generation facing FBI infiltration of feminist and independence groups.
Looking ahead, Clemente warned of converging crises: AI driven job loss, gutted labor protections, an assault on voting rights, and the risk of everyday uprisings met by state violence. Both she and Davey D closed by stressing that survival and resistance will depend on building real world community, mutual aid, and support for future political prisoners, not just posts and retweets.
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.