Radio Hosts in Major Cities Join Campaign to Reduce Black Overdose Deaths

NEW YORK, NY – Six radio hosts in Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Detroit are channeling their voices and energy to the You Have the Power to Save Lives campaign. As overdose has risen to become the leading preventable cause of death among Black adults in the US, the collaboration of local and national leaders seeks to promote public uptake of the overdose-reversing medicine, naloxone, in the community and raise awareness of its benefits.

The hosts recently hit the radio airwaves with strong messages advocating for Black communities to get free naloxone, also known by its brand name Narcan, available in their neighborhoods.

Participating in the campaign are:

Philadelphia hosts, Mikey Dredd, Morning Host of the Rise & Grind Morning Show on Power 99 WUSL, and Adimu Colon, Host of the Quiet Storm on 105.3 WDAS FM
Detroit hosts, Bushman, the PM Drive host on Mix 92.3, and Bigg Dawg Blast, the PM Drive host on FM 98 WJLB
Milwaukee hosts, Don Black, midday host and Program Director of Milwaukee Radio Group’s Jammin' 98.3 WJMR, and Trey White, afternoon drive host of iHeartMedia’s V100.7 FM

Having lost friends and relatives to drug overdose, the hosts’ narratives are authentic and powerful. Their messages resonate. To listen, go to the audio section in our website's newsroom.

The "You Have the Power to Save Lives" campaign launched last month in seven U.S. cities: Philadelphia, PA; Albuquerque, NM; Detroit, MI; Louisville, KY; Durham, NC; Milwaukee, WI; and Newark, NJ. The campaign, with its strong focus on community engagement, focuses on activating community leaders in Black communities to expand the availability and utilization of naloxone, a lifesaving, overdose-reversing nasal spray medication. At the heart of the campaign is a new website – YouCanSaveLives.org – where people can find out where to obtain naloxone near them, hear powerful, real-world testimonials, and take action to spread the word about the importance of naloxone.

Adimu Colon of Philadelphia (left), Big Dawg of Detroit (middle), Don Black of Milwaukee (end)

Supported by public health organization Vital Strategies, the campaign includes more than a dozen community groups, health organizations, and local government agencies. Their efforts focus on establishing new naloxone distribution points in Black communities—including neighborhood gathering spaces and local health providers—to reduce stigma around carrying naloxone and empower individuals to save lives in the event of an overdose.

The campaign also released a report consolidating recent evidence that illustrates the need for urgent action to save lives. Overdose rates in Black communities have been rising for the past ten years, but have skyrocketed since 2020, when overdose rates in the Black population overtook rates in the white population.

Daliah Heller, Vice President for Overdose Prevention Initiatives at Vital Strategies, thanked the radio hosts for participating in the campaign, saying, “They have powerful voices that can help the campaign save lives. We are grateful for their participation.”

Further, Heller said, “We are cautiously optimistic about declining overdose death rates nationally, but after years of skyrocketing rates, the wide disparities experienced by Black communities are raising the alarm. Rates are higher among Black adults than their white counterparts; we urgently need equitable and focused strategies. This campaign is making lifesaving naloxone more widely available in Black communities.”

Vital Strategies is a global health organization that believes every person should be protected by a strong public health system. Our overdose prevention program works to strengthen and scale evidence-based, data-driven policies and interventions to create equitable and sustainable reductions in overdose deaths in several U.S. states and local jurisdictions.

The National Black Harm Reduction Network is dedicated to advancing harm reduction principles that optimize health and wellness for Black people who are disproportionately harmed by public health initiatives, the criminal legal system, and drug policies.