Dying To Stay Here
Dying To Stay Here
Podcast Description
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.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on critical themes such as structural racism, generational poverty, and employment disparities, with episodes exploring topics like the impact of discriminatory business practices and the severe housing crisis affecting Black residents in Silicon Valley. For example, Episode 1 features Keanna Ward, who shares her lived experience of being unhoused and highlights systemic barriers to stable housing.

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.
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.

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