Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

How has your heart been lately? It’s no secret our world is hurting right now, with not the smallest of the current issues being the need to heal some deep divides in race relations.

I know there is a diverse group of readers and listeners of my podcast. And it gives me such joy to have a platform where we can grow together by talking about the hard things.

I’ll always be a journalist at heart. And interviewing people who open up our hearts and our world is truly the biggest honor.

At the core of any conflict is misunderstanding–either willful or not. And that’s why it’s so important to keep talking about race in America.

In this week’s episode of my podcast, 30 Something with Sonni, I have on two guests who help us dig into the deep pains that the black community in America feels.

I think the big takeaway from this and other open and candid conversations I’ve had with black people is this: As the result of a host of political, sociological and historical events, the black community experiences a completely different America than white people.

We can choose to accept this or not. But the truth is, we cannot make things better or more equal for everyone in America until we accept that the history of treatment of black Americans (and I mean from slavery all the way through to documented police brutalities of today) has created two separate Americas, depending on your skin tone–one where you can readily and freely act in the world, and one where you cannot, at pain of injury or even death.

You’ll hear about how one of my guests, Secily Wilson, was pulled over on a Florida highway for speeding in a construction zone only to have a police officer’s gun pointed at her face. You’ll hear how my other guest, Darrell Butler, tells his daughters how to behave if they’re ever stopped or pulled over by police. (A conversation I’m not sure many white parents have to have with their kids.)

It’s a conversation I hope you’ll listen to with an open heart and open mind.

As always, I’m so excited to hear your thoughts. Kind and respectful debate is always appreciated!

Listen below, and reach out to me on my email (click the Contact tab on the homepage!), or on Instagram.