September 15, 2025 • 7 mins
IN THE KNOW with Tony Reeves dives deep into the intersections of law, life, and lived experience. Hosted by Administrative Law Judge and storyteller Tony Reeves, this podcast explores the realities of navigating professional spaces, surviving systemic barriers, and finding your voice in a world that often overlooks it.
From reflections on growing up post–Jim Crow, to the challenges of being “the only one” in corporate America, to practical insights on equity, access, and resilience — every episode blends personal stories with lessons that inspire, inform, and empower.
Whether you’re a professional charting your own career path, someone seeking a better understanding of equity and justice, or just looking for real talk about what it means to thrive against the odds, this podcast brings you authentic conversations and timeless insights.
👉 New episodes weekly. Listen in, get inspired, and stay In the Know.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/in-the-know-with-tony-reeves--5596987/support.
From reflections on growing up post–Jim Crow, to the challenges of being “the only one” in corporate America, to practical insights on equity, access, and resilience — every episode blends personal stories with lessons that inspire, inform, and empower.
Whether you’re a professional charting your own career path, someone seeking a better understanding of equity and justice, or just looking for real talk about what it means to thrive against the odds, this podcast brings you authentic conversations and timeless insights.
👉 New episodes weekly. Listen in, get inspired, and stay In the Know.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/in-the-know-with-tony-reeves--5596987/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Let me read quick head, kids started. When I graduated
college in nineteen ninety one, I literally had no idea
what I was going to do next. I had just
completed my degree in biology, and now I found myself
entering into this new world of corporate arena, where I
was trying to figure out and navigate what this world
(00:24):
was going to look like for me. But it also
took on a much deeper meaning because remember this is
nineteen ninety one, nineteen ninety one, ninety two. We're still
about twenty years removed from the end of the modern
civil rights movement, and therefore I'm now moving into this
advantage point where I'm the first generation that's moving into
an area that is completely desegregated, where I'm moving into
a corporate environment where I'm not only trying to identify
(00:46):
where I'm going to place myself, but who can I
turn to to give me guidance as to how to
navigate as a person of color. It's important to remember
that in nineteen ninety one ninety two, I was, as
a member of Generation X heading into corporate arena. I
was twenty one to twenty two years old, and I
was now moving into this new space of doing something
(01:06):
that my parents' generation didn't. I had people within my
mother's generation who were professionals, but they were used to
and nate when they were my age, they moved into
this environment. When they moved into it, it was still segregated,
or they were in close proximity to when segregation was
still in place. For me, I am now about a
good twenty years removed from that time period, and so
(01:28):
I am now moving in at a time where the
people who I turned to for guidance can't really give
me a whole lot of guidance other than how to
maintain myself professionally in terms of how do I handle
professional interactions in a space where now I am in
a desegregated environment. This was all new to me, and
for the instance, in a lot of instances, it was
all new to them as well. As such, I often
(01:51):
found myself in these spaces where I didn't necessarily have
any mentors or guides immediately who could tell me what
I needed to do as I moved into these particular spaces.
So for me, I had to figure out how to
maneuver where In most of these instances, I did not
necessarily have someone who I could actively engage who can
give me guidance Accordingly, Now, I came from a very
(02:12):
unique standpoint. I had spent four years at a predominantly
white institution. I was used to maneuvering in spaces where
I was the only one. I was a biology major,
and when I graduated, I was the only black male
who graduated out of my class with a degree of biology.
I was the only black person who graduated in my
ORTC class, and most of my classes that I went to,
I was either the only one or one of a
(02:33):
few persons of color in each of my classes. So
I had been accustomed to moving in this environment. Most
of my classmates were very friendly, very engaging, and I
didn't have any problems with woever. But the reality is
is that I had no idea as to what this
was going to be like in the professional setting. So
when I finally got out to the professional world, unlike
being in a situation where I had other people who
(02:54):
were similarly situated to me in terms of college kids,
I now was going to be moving into a work
environment where I was going to deal with people who
not only were my age but older. Therefore, I didn't
know what that world was actually going to look like,
or how to best prepare for myself in terms of
engaging into that world. But there were two things that
I learned fairly quickly. Is the moment I got into
these spaces. Once I started my first job in nineteen
(03:16):
ninety two working for the State of Floria, first thing
I did is I started scanning for other professionals that
looked like me. It was not that I was trying
to find people to isolate myself or segregate myself, as
the term is often used, and correctly, I might add,
when it comes to moving with people in different spaces.
What I was looking for were people who I could
be in solidarity with, who I believe were similarly situated
(03:36):
as I was. I was looking for people who knew
what it was like to be in spaces where it
was either just them or only a few of them.
In my workplace, there was a headquarters office, and then
there were five field offices, so we would travel regularly
to each one of those field officers, and in each
one I was often looking for people who looked like me,
(03:56):
and I was successful because in each one of those office,
I was able to identify people who looked like me,
who could communicate to me their own experiences and let
me know. Kind of examples is how they engaged in
various interpersonal relationships with people when they found themselves in
spaces where they were the only one. The other thing
I found was the importance of code switching, which was
something I didn't realize was the thing, but it was
(04:18):
something I had kind of done naturally what I was
in college, and what I mean is is that I
looked and I tried to mirror the communication patterns of
the people who were around me. I did not use
slang as much. I did not use words that were
synonymous with certain environments that I was used in moving in.
I typically listened to the patterns the engagement mechanisms of
(04:41):
the people who did not look like me, and I
mirrored them in a way to ascertain what their intentions were,
but also to provide a little the comfort for them
to be able to engage me in a way that
I believed would be productive for me as well. This
was the world I had to experience, and for me,
these were the two that I utilized in order to
(05:01):
move forward. But it was really important that I had
those places I could go to in order to see
how to maneuver recordingly. This is where the media the
arts played a huge role. It was also during this
time that we started to see proliferation of different representations,
whether it be Living Single in around nineteen ninety three
or Boomerang around nineteen ninety five. Movies like this started
(05:25):
to depict black people in professional environment and these were
important because not only did it represent something that I
hadn't seen in my normal day to day practice, it
created a sense of normalcy that moving in these spaces
as professionals was something that was the norm, and knowing
that I was looking at people who not only looked
like me, but were also in my same age category
(05:46):
made me feel more comforted. And knowing that I was
now moving in a space where it was not uncommon
to see someone that looked like me and this was
becoming a common practice. Oftentimes people don't think about the
underlying gratifications of what it means to go through significant
generational change. As I've said before various other videos and podcasts,
(06:07):
we have to remember that we literally slip the switch overnight.
We went from a segregated society to a desegregated society,
and there was no blueprint for what a desegregated society
had looked like after basically being a sixggregated society for
over three hundred years. Our generation, as Generation X and
Black Generation had to carry that torch. Not only do
we have to figure out skills for how to move
(06:28):
in this environment, but we also had to not do
that in addition to ensuring that we had safe spaces
that we can maneuver, finding safe practices in terms of
how we maneuver, and look for other places that can
remind us and reaffirm to us that it was okay
to be where we were. Take a moment to reflect
on your personal journey, and if you like, I would
encourage you to take a check out of my book
(06:50):
Black Generation X in the Middle talking about how Generation
X moved accordingly as being a transitional group. You can
check the book out in one of my bookstores. And
as always, if you want a giveaway title code where
you can get the book for free, I only have
a limited number. Just make sure you put a comment
down below and I'll make sure I get one to you.
Let me read quick head, kids started. When I graduated
college in nineteen ninety one, I literally had no idea
what I was going to do next. I had just
completed my degree in biology, and now I found myself
entering into this new world of corporate arena, where I
was trying to figure out and navigate what this world
(00:24):
was going to look like for me. But it also
took on a much deeper meaning because remember this is
nineteen ninety one, nineteen ninety one, ninety two. We're still
about twenty years removed from the end of the modern
civil rights movement, and therefore I'm now moving into this
advantage point where I'm the first generation that's moving into
an area that is completely desegregated, where I'm moving into
a corporate environment where I'm not only trying to identify
(00:46):
where I'm going to place myself, but who can I
turn to to give me guidance as to how to
navigate as a person of color. It's important to remember
that in nineteen ninety one ninety two, I was, as
a member of Generation X heading into corporate arena. I
was twenty one to twenty two years old, and I
was now moving into this new space of doing something
(01:06):
that my parents' generation didn't. I had people within my
mother's generation who were professionals, but they were used to
and nate when they were my age, they moved into
this environment. When they moved into it, it was still segregated,
or they were in close proximity to when segregation was
still in place. For me, I am now about a
good twenty years removed from that time period, and so
(01:28):
I am now moving in at a time where the
people who I turned to for guidance can't really give
me a whole lot of guidance other than how to
maintain myself professionally in terms of how do I handle
professional interactions in a space where now I am in
a desegregated environment. This was all new to me, and
for the instance, in a lot of instances, it was
all new to them as well. As such, I often
(01:51):
found myself in these spaces where I didn't necessarily have
any mentors or guides immediately who could tell me what
I needed to do as I moved into these particular spaces.
So for me, I had to figure out how to
maneuver where In most of these instances, I did not
necessarily have someone who I could actively engage who can
give me guidance Accordingly, Now, I came from a very
(02:12):
unique standpoint. I had spent four years at a predominantly
white institution. I was used to maneuvering in spaces where
I was the only one. I was a biology major,
and when I graduated, I was the only black male
who graduated out of my class with a degree of biology.
I was the only black person who graduated in my
ORTC class, and most of my classes that I went to,
I was either the only one or one of a
(02:33):
few persons of color in each of my classes. So
I had been accustomed to moving in this environment. Most
of my classmates were very friendly, very engaging, and I
didn't have any problems with woever. But the reality is
is that I had no idea as to what this
was going to be like in the professional setting. So
when I finally got out to the professional world, unlike
being in a situation where I had other people who
(02:54):
were similarly situated to me in terms of college kids,
I now was going to be moving into a work
environment where I was going to deal with people who
not only were my age but older. Therefore, I didn't
know what that world was actually going to look like,
or how to best prepare for myself in terms of
engaging into that world. But there were two things that
I learned fairly quickly. Is the moment I got into
these spaces. Once I started my first job in nineteen
(03:16):
ninety two working for the State of Floria, first thing
I did is I started scanning for other professionals that
looked like me. It was not that I was trying
to find people to isolate myself or segregate myself, as
the term is often used, and correctly, I might add,
when it comes to moving with people in different spaces.
What I was looking for were people who I could
be in solidarity with, who I believe were similarly situated
(03:36):
as I was. I was looking for people who knew
what it was like to be in spaces where it
was either just them or only a few of them.
In my workplace, there was a headquarters office, and then
there were five field offices, so we would travel regularly
to each one of those field officers, and in each
one I was often looking for people who looked like me,
(03:56):
and I was successful because in each one of those office,
I was able to identify people who looked like me,
who could communicate to me their own experiences and let
me know. Kind of examples is how they engaged in
various interpersonal relationships with people when they found themselves in
spaces where they were the only one. The other thing
I found was the importance of code switching, which was
something I didn't realize was the thing, but it was
(04:18):
something I had kind of done naturally what I was
in college, and what I mean is is that I
looked and I tried to mirror the communication patterns of
the people who were around me. I did not use
slang as much. I did not use words that were
synonymous with certain environments that I was used in moving in.
I typically listened to the patterns the engagement mechanisms of
(04:41):
the people who did not look like me, and I
mirrored them in a way to ascertain what their intentions were,
but also to provide a little the comfort for them
to be able to engage me in a way that
I believed would be productive for me as well. This
was the world I had to experience, and for me,
these were the two that I utilized in order to
(05:01):
move forward. But it was really important that I had
those places I could go to in order to see
how to maneuver recordingly. This is where the media the
arts played a huge role. It was also during this
time that we started to see proliferation of different representations,
whether it be Living Single in around nineteen ninety three
or Boomerang around nineteen ninety five. Movies like this started
(05:25):
to depict black people in professional environment and these were
important because not only did it represent something that I
hadn't seen in my normal day to day practice, it
created a sense of normalcy that moving in these spaces
as professionals was something that was the norm, and knowing
that I was looking at people who not only looked
like me, but were also in my same age category
(05:46):
made me feel more comforted. And knowing that I was
now moving in a space where it was not uncommon
to see someone that looked like me and this was
becoming a common practice. Oftentimes people don't think about the
underlying gratifications of what it means to go through significant
generational change. As I've said before various other videos and podcasts,
(06:07):
we have to remember that we literally slip the switch overnight.
We went from a segregated society to a desegregated society,
and there was no blueprint for what a desegregated society
had looked like after basically being a sixggregated society for
over three hundred years. Our generation, as Generation X and
Black Generation had to carry that torch. Not only do
we have to figure out skills for how to move
(06:28):
in this environment, but we also had to not do
that in addition to ensuring that we had safe spaces
that we can maneuver, finding safe practices in terms of
how we maneuver, and look for other places that can
remind us and reaffirm to us that it was okay
to be where we were. Take a moment to reflect
on your personal journey, and if you like, I would
encourage you to take a check out of my book
(06:50):
Black Generation X in the Middle talking about how Generation
X moved accordingly as being a transitional group. You can
check the book out in one of my bookstores. And
as always, if you want a giveaway title code where
you can get the book for free, I only have
a limited number. Just make sure you put a comment
down below and I'll make sure I get one to you.
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