Fund Drive Special: Kamau Franklin on Cop City, Black Misleadership, and the Fight for Real Power

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On this edition of Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D sits down with Kamau Franklin—organizer, lawyer, and co-editor of No Cop City, No Cop World: Lessons from the Movement—for a deep and revealing conversation about the grassroots struggle in Atlanta and what it means for movements across the country.

Franklin lays out the origins of the “Stop Cop City” movement, born from the backlash to the 2020 uprisings over police violence. While masses called to defund or abolish the police, Atlanta’s response—despite its reputation as a Black Mecca—was to build Cop City, a sprawling, militarized training facility funded by corporate giants like Delta, Cox, and Waffle House. Located on land once promised to a working-class Black community, the site has drawn protest, organizing, and repression.

Kamau breaks down how Black political elites—what he and the late Glenn Ford call the Black misleadership class—helped enable Cop City’s creation. These are officials who use their identity to gain trust, but govern in ways that align with corporate and developer interests rather than the needs of working-class Black folks. “They’re not struggling with Black liberation politics,” Franklin says. “They’re trained to be transactional.”

Davey D and Kamau explore the dangers of identity politics when it’s weaponized for status quo governance. They also touch on the defanging of Black radical politics through state repression, corporate media manipulation, and the amplification of conservative Black voices that present themselves as “authentically hood” while pushing reactionary agendas.

Franklin highlights the importance of coalition-building, even as the Cop City fight has faced internal challenges and political repression—including terrorism and RICO charges against protesters. He names the essay by Ashley Dixon on base building as a must-read in the book, pointing to the hard, often unglamorous organizing work needed to sustain movements. He also lifts up moments of solidarity with Indigenous communities—especially the Muskogee Nation—who were displaced from the land now being bulldozed for Cop City.

In the final stretch, the conversation turns to the dangers ahead: the rise of white militias, expanded federal surveillance, and increasing use of anti-terror laws to stifle dissent. Kamau calls for a shift from “Know Your Rights” to “Community Defense.” He underscores the importance of building alternative infrastructure—from housing to farms to mutual aid—as a way to deepen political power beyond elections.

Listeners are encouraged to follow Kamau’s work at CommunityMovementBuilders.org and his YouTube platform, Black Liberation Media.

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.

The post Fund Drive Special: Kamau Franklin on Cop City, Black Misleadership, and the Fight for Real Power appeared first on KPFA.

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