Part 2: Conversations on Identity, Race, and Belonging with Shawn "Kool Aid" Brown
This conversation is an invitation to stay. To stay in the discomfort, in the nuance, in the parts of ourselves we’d rather bypass.
In Part 2, I name something I’m still actively working through: my own bias. Not as a performance. Not as a checkbox. But as a lived, ongoing process of noticing, unlearning, and sitting with the discomfort that comes with it. This isn’t easy work. And it’s not supposed to be.
Shawn and I move through identity, belonging, and the layered realities that shape both.
He shares the story of his grandfather, a World War II veteran who served his country, and returned home to a system that denied him access to the very benefits that built generational wealth for others. We talk about how discriminatory banking practices and redlining didn’t just impact individuals. They shaped entire family trajectories, creating gaps that are still very much present today.
We also zoom out.
We talk about the legacy of “manifest destiny,” not just as history, but as a mindset that still shows up in how we move through the world, how we relate to land, power, and each other.
And we ask a harder question:
How do we hold all of this truth, and still choose kindness?
Not a passive, dismissive kindness. But an active, grounded one. The kind that doesn’t bypass harm, but also doesn’t dehumanize. The kind that requires accountability and humanity.
This episode is not about arriving at answers.
It’s about expanding our capacity to sit in the questions.
In this episode, we explore:
* Recognizing and naming personal bias without defensiveness
* The emotional labor of staying in discomfort instead of avoiding it
* The long-term impact of redlining and discriminatory lending on generational wealth
* The disconnect between military service and access to opportunity for Black veterans
* Manifest destiny as both history and ongoing narrative
* What it means to hold people accountable without stripping away their humanity
* The tension between truth-telling and compassion
This is a conversation that asks something of you.
To listen differently.
To reflect honestly.
To stay.
Simply Heard, The Space Between is a podcast produced by Simply Centered Psychological Services, in Raleigh, NC. Simply Heard, The Space Between is for educational and informational purposes, and not to be used as a replacement for therapy.
