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.

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.

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.