В Оакленде продолжается работа молодежной организации по сохранению устной традиции и черной истории

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.