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.
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?
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