Davey D interviews educator and scholar activist Hodari Davis during Black History Month, centering the urgency of teaching Black history in a moment when it is being restricted, distorted, and erased in schools across the country. Davey D opens by praising Davis as a teacher’s teacher and longtime community educator, noting the work Davis and his wife Candace have done for years through their series Educating the Black Child and their public teach ins that bring scholars and practical tools directly to the people.
Davis shares that he is nearing completion of his PhD in Education at UC Davis, while emphasizing that Black history has been his lifelong passion since his early teaching days at Berkeley High School in the early 1990s. He honors the legacy of Berkeley High’s Black Studies program, described as the oldest high school Black Studies department in the world, and lifts up mentors Dr. Richard Navies and Dr. Robert McKnight, underscoring the sacrifice and discipline required to sustain Black education across generations.
When Davey D asks what is really being threatened by attacks on Black history, Davis argues it is fundamentally about the future. He frames Black history as something that passes through us and must be transmitted to children and grandchildren. He stresses that Black people are an oral people, and while books matter as repositories, history truly lives through storytelling, performance, and face to face teaching. He points to his program Young, Gifted, and Black, where youth learn history through poetry, rap, and song, illustrating how each generation adds its own flavor to inherited knowledge.
The conversation also critiques the digital ecosystem. Davis warns that misinformation online can sever lineage, replace scholarship with sound bites, and promote divisive narratives. He calls for returning to analog practices: reading, attending lectures, and building community spaces for learning.
Davis closes by promoting upcoming events: a Thursday conversation with Dr. Angela Wellman about music and Black education, and Mr. Davis’ Classroom sessions at The People’s House in West Oakland on February 27 and 28 from 6 to 8 pm, offering an introduction to African American history timed to mark the centennial legacy of Carter G. Woodson’s original Negro History Week.
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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