In this episode, I talk with Erika Whitfield, a 7th grade teacher in St Louis, whose recent Washington Post article about her students’ reaction to police misconduct (and the acquittal of yet another white officer in the killing of yet another black man), speaks to the way even 12 year old black kids have come to expect disappointment from the justice system. We discuss what this means, and how she as a teacher helps inspire their learning and optimism despite a system that they already understand is stacked against them.