When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, our lives changed overnight. Schools shut down, graduations moved to front lawns, and families were thrown into a reality no one had prepared for.

Even after two years, many were left traumatized by the sudden shift. 

But what if we take that same lens and look back further? Imagine living under 90 years of Jim Crow and then seeing those laws vanish virtually overnight. For Black Gen X, that was our inheritance — growing up in a desegregated society that our parents and grandparents had never experienced, with no roadmap to guide us. 

In this episode, I connect the shock of the pandemic to the deeper historical transition after Jim Crow, showing how Gen X became the generation raised without a blueprint. 

📚 This conversation is one of the central themes in my new book, Black Gen X in the Middle. Leave a comment on the YouTube version of this episode and request a free code for a copy!

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