This project has been a true work of passion for host Chuck Cantrell, driven by a deep desire to educate, inspire, and create momentum for meaningful change. Through thoughtful analysis and powerful storytelling, the series aims to shed light on the pressing economic and social challenges facing Black Americans in Silicon Valley and beyond.
Join us as we embark on this critical journey—subscribe and be part of the conversation for equity and justice.
Chuck Cantrell’s “Dying to Stay Here” video podcast series is a compelling exploration of the structural economic and social barriers facing Black Americans, particularly in Silicon Valley and Santa Clara County. Hosted by economist and San Jose planning commissioner Chuck Cantrell, the series draws on public data and personal experience to reveal how generational poverty, discriminatory business cycles, and systemic racism continue to marginalize African Americans in one of the nation’s wealthiest regions.
Each episode delves into topics such as employment disparities, the “last in, first out” layoff practices, housing unaffordability, and the alarming overrepresentation of Black residents among the unhoused and those facing premature mortality. Cantrell’s analysis, informed by decades of research and lived experience, highlights how these forces not only trap Black families in cycles of disadvantage but also serve as early warning signs—like canaries in a coal mine—of broader societal crises.
Dying to Stay Here Episode 6, Part 2: Kenyatta Ward - Genocide in Slow Motion
In “Genocide in Slow Motion,” Dying to Stay Here host Chuck Cantrell and guest Kenyatta Yarn expose systemic racism in Black maternal health and infant mortality in Santa Clara County. Through the traumatic birth, NICU journey of her son, Kristopher, Kenyatta shows how disbelief, bias, and delayed care turn a healthy pregnancy into a preventable tragedy, and why empathy, accountability, and Black-led support are essential to saving Black mothers and babies.
26 Dec 2025
Dying to Stay Here Episode 6, Part 1: Kenyatta Ward - Genocide in Slow Motion
In “Genocide in Slow Motion,” Dying to Stay Here host Chuck Cantrell and guest Kenyatta Yarn expose systemic racism in Black maternal health and infant mortality through the heartbreaking birth and trauma of her son, Kristopher.
Link: https://youtu.be/5LAMfGIeJ7o
13 Nov 2025
Dying to Stay Here Episode 5: Ray Goins
This powerful episode of Dying to Stay Here, host Chuck Cantrell sits down with Ray Goins, who shares his extraordinary journey from childhood trauma and systemic injustice to lengthy incarceration and, ultimately, transformation. Ray exposes how zero-tolerance school policies and the school-to-prison pipeline set Black youth on a path toward prisons instead of opportunity. Through raw storytelling, he reveals the reality inside California’s prison system, the impact of the carceral slave trade, and how love and resilience helped change his life’s direction. Tune in for an eye-opening conversation about mass incarceration, the cycle of injustice affecting Black communities, and the hope that comes from healing and reform. This is a difficult episode to watch, but it's essential to see it through to the end.
16 Oct 2025
Dying to Stay Here Episode 4: Jahmal Williams
This episode of the Dying to Stay Here Podcast with Jahmal Williams explores the enduring challenges and unrecognized resilience of Black residents in Silicon Valley. Jahmal describes the familiar ache of being the only Black face in many rooms, a consequence of historic exclusion from political and civic leadership. Representation, Jahmal argues, is not mere symbolism; it’s a foundation for community progress. When Black voices and stories are absent, vital issues like equitable funding, healthcare, education, and justice often go overlooked.
22 Aug 2025
Dying to Stay Here Episode 3: Cupid Alexander
Our housing crisis is about more than just an inadequate supply of housing, it also exposes enduring structures of exclusion and generational barriers to opportunity. Continued practices like exclusionary zoning, predatory lending, discrimination from financial institutions and the real estate industry undermine wealth-building and homeownership. In the most recent episode of "Dying to Stay Here," I sit down with Cupid Alexander, deputy director of housing for San Jose, to discuss the roots and solutions to this persistent issue.
10 Jul 2025
Dying to Stay Here Episode 2: Regina Celestin Williams
In this compelling episode, host Chuck Cantrell sits down with Regina Celestin Williams, executive director of SV@Home, to unravel the realities behind Silicon Valley’s housing crisis. Together, they challenge the idea that the crisis affects everyone equally, exposing how the region’s abundance benefits some while leaving others—especially Black residents—struggling to remain.
Regina shares her personal journey growing up in Section 8 housing, connecting her story to the broader fight for affordable homes in a region driven by prosperity but marked by deep inequality. The conversation moves beyond political soundbites and data points, asking: if the evidence of a crisis is so clear, why do so many leaders fail to act?
Chuck and Regina examine the historical and structural barriers that shape who gets to stay in the Silicon Valley, focusing on how exclusionary zoning and land use policies have maintained the status quo and the declining Black community since the 1990s. They discuss the human impact of unaffordable housing, from neighbors forced out to teachers and restaurant workers who can’t afford to live where they work.
Regina, a housing expert, explains how efforts to “maintain neighborhood character” often translate into resistance to necessary change, perpetuating inequity and limiting who gets to call the Silicon Valley home. The episode calls for a new vision: embracing growth and transformation to build a Silicon Valley that is truly vibrant, inclusive, and capable of housing all its residents.
Listeners will come away with a deeper understanding of why data alone isn’t enough to drive policy change, insight into how exclusionary practices shape who gets to stay in the Silicon Valley, and a renewed sense of urgency for reimagining housing, zoning, and community in one of America’s most unequal regions.
Dying to Stay Here continues to spotlight the voices and stories too often left out of the conversation, urging us all to ask: who gets to stay, and at what cost?
18 Jun 2025
Dying to Stay Here Episode 1: Keanna Ward
Keanna Ward shares her experiences being unhoused and Black in Silicon Valley, revealing systemic barriers and calling for justice and reform in this interview episode.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 14 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
15
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
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