When you turn 21, the club feels like arrival. It’s the symbol of adulthood, freedom, identity, and validation. But at some point, the music, the crowd, and the performance stop aligning with who you’re becoming — and that’s where the real journey starts. 

In this episode, Anthony Reeves, Esq. breaks down the unspoken transition many young Black professionals experience: evolving beyond nightlife culture, entering academic and professional environments, searching for culturally aligned peers, and finally discovering authentic community. 
From the club scene… to graduate school… to exploring exclusive spaces… and ultimately finding real belonging through a military network — this story offers a blueprint for what professional growth looks like behind the scenes, not just online or on paper.

THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU IF: • You’re in your 20s or 30s and feel like you’ve outgrown old spaces • You’re educated, ambitious, or career-driven but unsure where you belong • You want connection with peers who share culture, vision, and values • You feel like you’re evolving — but don’t know where it’s leading • You’re searching for community that feels natural, not performative 

KEY THEMES: • Why clubs feel like the starting point of adulthood • The moment nightlife stops matching professional growth • How graduate school shifts identity and expectations • The illusion of exclusivity in upscale social spaces • The frustration of trying to locate “your people” • How aligned spaces are found — not advertised • Community as a growth catalyst, not a social activity 

QUOTE TO REMEMBER: 
“You don’t evolve to impress new rooms — you evolve to recognize the rooms that were already meant for you.”


CALL TO ACTION

If this message speaks to your spirit, share it with someone who’s evolving, searching, or feeling disconnected. Rate the show, leave a review, and join the mission of building spaces where young Black professionals don’t just enter the room… they belong in it.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/in-the-know-with-tony-reeves--5596987/support.

In this episode, I break down one of the most overlooked realities of growing up Black as a member of Generation X — the confusing part of racism. Not because racism itself is confusing, but because the presentation of racism changed between our parents’ world and ours.

Our parents and grandparents grew up with laws, signs, institutions, and culture that made second-class citizenship undeniable. They didn’t have to guess if racism was present — it announced itself.
But Black Gen X came of age in a world where the signs were gone, the laws had changed, and the country insisted that things were different.

Except the people who enforced those old systems?They were still here.And their attitudes didn’t change just because the laws did.

This episode explores:

• What it meant to grow up between two racial realities
• How Black Gen X entered integrated spaces without the survival guide our parents had
• The cafeteria moment when someone asked, “Why are you all segregating yourselves?”
• The professional moment where I was told, “I’m surprised you’d think that way as an educated Black man”
• Why microaggressions became emotional landmines
• The generational disconnect between “We’ve moved forward” and “Be careful out there”
• And why moments like George Floyd’s death revealed how long America ignored Black voices

For Black Gen X, racism wasn’t predictable anymore. It wasn’t a sign on the door or a slur shouted from a porch. It was a question. A comment. A moment that made you pause and ask, “Did that just happen?”

This is the story of growing up in that space — of learning how to navigate a world that promised equality but still carried hidden dangers.

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This 20-minute audio reflection pulls back the curtain on my IN THE KNOW video “Sign of the Times.” I share personal insights about the realities Gen X faced growing up between parents divided by the Jim Crow experience. For many White Gen Xers, that meant dealing with relatives whose biases still lingered. For Black Gen Xers, it meant hearing stories of survival and injustice at the dinner table. In this behind-the-scenes conversation, I talk about how those family histories shaped our generation’s silence, empathy, and evolution.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/in-the-know-with-tony-reeves--5596987/support.

In this episode, I take a hard look at what we mean when we say something was just a “sign of the times.” For generations, that phrase has been used to excuse racism, discrimination, and hate — as if time alone could justify injustice. 

As a member of Black Generation X, I reflect on growing up surrounded by family members who lived through segregation, the Klan, and systemic racism — yet often stayed silent about it. But there’s another side to this story: many White Gen Xers were raised by people who benefitted from or defended those same systems, sometimes passing down their biases and beliefs to their children. 

This isn’t about blame — it’s about truth. Because if “Jim Crow had kids,” then Generation X inherited the responsibility to confront what our parents taught us, challenge what they couldn’t see, and choose what we carry forward. 

Let’s talk about what it really means to break the cycle and stop using “sign of the times” as a free pass for prejudice. 

Call to Action

💬 What did your parents or grandparents teach you — directly or indirectly — about race and difference? 🎧 Listen, reflect, and share your thoughts using #SignOfTheTimes and #GenXVoices. 📢 Don’t forget to follow for more real conversations about culture, legacy, and truth.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/in-the-know-with-tony-reeves--5596987/support.

For many of us in the Black Gen X generation, the N-word wasn’t something we were supposed to hear anymore. We were told that the world had changed—that the battles of our parents and grandparents had been fought and won. But all it took was one word to remind us that the past was never really gone.

In this episode, I share a deeply personal story—the first time I heard the N-word directed at me and my mother—and what that moment revealed about the illusion of equality so many of us were raised to believe in. From the quiet lessons of our parents’ generation to the silent shock of our own, this reflection explores how one word carries the weight of centuries.

This is more than a story about language. It’s about awareness, identity, and the difficult moment when innocence gives way to truth.

🎧 Tune in to hear how the echoes of history still shape how we see ourselves and the world around us.Listen • Reflect • Share.#BlackGenX #LivingBlackHistory #TheNWord #BlackExperience #CulturalAwakening #GenXVoices #GrowingUpBlack #InTheKnowWithTonyReeves #LivingWhileBlack

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Have you ever walked past a building and felt its history?

For many of us in Black Gen X, we live among reminders of what our parents and grandparents endured. The homes, parks, schools, and even restaurants we move through every day are living witnesses to segregation, struggle, and change.

In this episode, I reflect on how the past is still present — not in history books, but in the physical spaces that surround us. From a Mississippi plantation home to the parks of Pine Bluff, from the old McDonald’s on Main Street to Pine Bluff High School and the Saenger Theater — each place holds a story. 

These places remind us that time doesn’t erase history. It only buries it under new paint. And when we ignore that truth, we risk being historically disrespectful to those who came before us. 

Key Segments 

• The Symbol Never Dies: How a childhood visit to a plantation revealed the emotional weight of historical spaces.
• From Segregation to Assembly: The evolution of Townsend and Oakland Parks — and how safe spaces carry memory.
• Same Space, Different Impact: Why the same McDonald’s or school means something completely different to different generations.
• The Impact Doesn’t Go Away: Remembering the Saenger Theater and the legacy of exclusion that still lingers.

Takeaway

You can remodel a building, but you can’t renovate its history. Remembering isn’t about guilt — it’s about respect.

Call to Action

💬 Share your story: Have you ever stood in a place where you felt history? Message or comment to tell me about it. 🌐 Visit anthonyreeves.com or my Fourthwall store to explore more reflections and e-books. 🎧 Follow The Anthony Reeves Experience for more stories, insights, and conversations about history, culture, and identity.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/in-the-know-with-tony-reeves--5596987/support.

In this episode, Tony Reeves reflects on how a simple kindergarten classroom in 1974 became the backdrop for one of the most profound social transformations in American history.

Born in 1969 and starting school just two decades after Brown v. Board of Education, Tony shares what it was like to begin his education during the final waves of school desegregation in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. What felt like an ordinary start to childhood was actually a quiet revolution — where innocence and integration met for the first time.

He also pays tribute to his mother, one of the first Black teachers in an integrated kindergarten in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, who carried the weight of generational change while protecting her son’s innocence. Through their shared experience, Tony explores how Black Generation X became the bridge between the struggles of the past and the promise of a new America.
In this episode you’ll hear:

• What it meant to start kindergarten in the post-Jim Crow South
• How school integration reshaped early childhood for Black Gen X
• The untold strength of Black educators during desegregation
• Why Generation X still carries the legacy of those first classrooms

🎙️ “We weren’t just learning our ABCs — we were learning what equality looked like, even before we understood the word.”Call to Action:If this story resonates with your own journey — or your parents’ — share this episode and subscribe for more reflections on history, identity, and the experiences that shaped Black Gen X.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/in-the-know-with-tony-reeves--5596987/support.

In this episode of IN THE KNOW with Anthony Reeves, we take a deep look at what it meant to be Black Generation X — the first generation to grow up in a multicultural America while still carrying the emotional weight of segregation, loss, and social transformation. 

Anthony reflects on how his generation was shaped by the trauma and triumphs of their parents and grandparents — from the assassinations of the 1960s and the Civil Rights victories that followed, to the modern echoes of George Floyd’s death and global reckoning. 

Through powerful storytelling, historical parallels, and personal insight, Anthony explores how Black Gen X became the bridge generation — raised by those who endured the fight for equality, and tasked with living out its promise in real time. 
🔹 Topics include:

• The legacy of Civil Rights and generational trauma
• The psychological impact of rapid social change
• How the death of George Floyd mirrors earlier generational pain
• The story of Anthony’s mother — a teacher and mother navigating a new world
• Why remembering the past is key to healing the present

🎙️ “Black Gen X grew up between progress and pain. We were America’s test case for transformation.”
👉 Listen, follow, and share to join the conversation on how history continues to shape our lives. For more reflections, check out Anthony’s e-book “Black Generation X Journey: The World Before Me” — available now on Fourthwall.

#BlackGenX #InTheKnowPodcast #AnthonyReeves #CulturalTrauma #CivilRightsLegacy #GenerationalHealing #BetweenHopeAndTrauma #SocialJustice #BlackHistory #GenXVoices

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(00:00:00) Lessons from the Past: Why Black Travelers still move differently

(00:00:08) Intro: Moving Differently for a Reason

(00:00:32) The Myth That Time Erases Danger

(00:02:00) The Generational Warning System

(00:03:37) From Emmett Till to Interstate 10

(00:05:51) It’s not about fear. It’s about Focus

(00:07:29) Closing: Blueprints, not baggage

For many of us in Black Gen X, travel has never been just about the destination — it’s about survival through awareness. 

In this episode, I explore how generations before us taught vital lessons about how to move in certain spaces — lessons that were never about fear, but about staying safe in a world that didn’t always welcome us equally. From family warnings before road trips down South to stories of Emmett Till and beyond, I reflect on how these “travel codes” became a quiet form of self-protection that still resonates today. Because the truth is — the past isn’t baggage. It’s a blueprint for survival

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/in-the-know-with-tony-reeves--5596987/support.

In 1987, I was just 18 — a college freshman at the University of Tampa and a brand-new Army Reservist trying to earn a $4,000 bonus. What should’ve been a routine weekend drill turned into one of the wildest, most dangerous journeys of my life. 

No car. No money. No phone. Just a uniform, a highway, and the belief that I could walk 80 miles from Orlando back to Tampa — because, at that age, I thought I was invincible. 

In this episode, I share how that long, dark walk down I-4 became a defining lesson about freedom, faith, and foolishness. From begging for food at a gas station to crawling under a resort fence just to use a phone, to being rescued by a kind Black couple at night — this story is about more than survival. 

It’s about what it truly meant to be Black Gen X — the first generation told we were “free to move,” yet still learning that freedom didn’t always mean safety. 

🎧 Tune in as I unpack how one night on a Florida highway revealed what Traveling While Black Gen X really felt like — equal parts courage, ignorance, and grace.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/in-the-know-with-tony-reeves--5596987/support.