Hard Knock Radio host Davey D marked Mental Health Awareness Month by centering a rarely held but urgently needed conversation: what real healing looks like for Black men. Joining him were artist and wellness leader Karega Bailey, Oakland rapper and community organizer Mistah FAB, and Dads Evoking Change founder Kareem Chadley, all of whom have turned deep personal loss into collective work.

Karega opens by noting that many of us only recently got the language to name what we have always seen in our families and neighborhoods. Depression does not always look like someone shut down and isolated. It can look like high performers showing up for everyone except themselves. He stresses that suicidal thoughts are often invisible, especially around the holidays, and urges listeners who are struggling to give life one more day and reach for community. His Men’s Wellness Fellowship is about removing barriers so Black men can share their stories, feel fully human, and be met with love instead of suspicion.

FAB speaks of Thug Therapy as a space where brothers can talk without feeling studied or mocked. He breaks down how humor often becomes armor, describing how he played the clown at his mothers funeral while feeling shattered inside. Growing up, crying meant punishment. Parents and caregivers, often under extreme pressure themselves, pushed boys to be hard enough to survive. That emotional shutdown turns many into what he calls desensitized robots. He also calls out medical and educational systems that rush support to others while treating Black men as disposable.

Kareem traces his journey from grieving father to founder of Dads Evoking Change. Navigating family court, he watched fathers reduced to paychecks while being cut off from their children. His organization offers free legal support and counseling, but he says the first thing most men need is space to unload their emotions without being punished for them. With so many children growing up in separate households, he argues that teaching emotional processing is as essential as any legal strategy.

Together, the three insist that wellness, culture, and organizing belong together. From Men’s Wellness Fellowship to Thug Therapy to Dads Evoking Change, they frame this work as coalition, not competition, and close by calling listeners to invest in their own healing and in the humanity of the people around them.

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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