Unpacking Midwest Nice

The Shadow in the Room pt. 1

Welcome back to Unexamined Me. Today we’re diving into a conversation that many of our communities have avoided for generations — the reality and harm of anti-Blackness within communities of color. This is a conversation about white supremacy and how anti-Blackness functions inside our own communities, in our families, our organizing spaces, our schools, and our relationships.

The Learning Trap — When White Supremacy Teaches You How to Stay Still

Welcome back to Unexamined Me. In this episode we talked about the trap that white supremacy sets — and that many of us, especially those who think we’re doing ‘the work,’ still fall into. I call it The Learning Trap. It’s not ignorance that sustains white supremacy anymore. It’s the endless appetite for learning — reading, reflecting, attending workshops — that never ripens into collective disruption. Learning has become a ritual of belonging for those who want to feel good about knowing, not those ready to risk something for freedom.

Unpacking Midwest Nice

In this episode, we are talking about unpacking the mind behind Midwest Nice.  If you grew up in the Midwest, you know “nice” is its own language… and its own survival strategy. But under that “politeness”, there’s a racialized structure of comfort and avoidance we need to unearth. We were joined by Amanda Garcia Florence Goodenough where she breaks this down into four types of Midwest Nice.

Legacy, Unconditional Love, and the Afterlife

Welcome back to Season 2 of Unexamined Me. In this episode, we discussed three questions that every culture, lineage, and ancestor has wrested with: What stays behind when we die? How do we leave a legacy of unconditional love?  And what’s the difference between legacy and the afterlife?

When death comes into our lives

Dr. Erica Srinivasan is an associate professor of Psychology and Director for the Center for Grief and Death Education at the University Wisconsin–La Crosse. She is also the lead instructor of the Grief Support Specialist Certificate and the Dementia Support Specialist Badge, offered through continuing education divisions in the UW System. Dr. Srinivasan specializes in grief and loss in her research. She has a passion for normalizing conversations about death and grief, which serves as a foundation for all of her professional work. We thank Dr. Srinivasan for her expertise in this episode as she walks us through how grief can show up, or not, when death comes into our lives.