the legacy of little nate (part 2)

Potential Activation Warning- The following episode description contains references to suicide. Please take care while reading. We include helpful resources after the description 

In this continuation of The Legacy of Little Nate, Kenjus and Tiffani sit with Cassandra Edwards and Canada Taylor Parker once again for the conclusion of their unflinching conversation about death, grief, and the slow, grinding violence that Black people endure long before their final breath. Canada and Cassandra move the discussion beyond sanitized narratives about suicide, confronting the reality that death is rarely a singular moment but often a drawn-out consequence of systemic abandonment, unaddressed pain, and intergenerational suffering.

Cassandra, navigating the loss of her son, speaks to the ways suicide is often framed as an individual tragedy while the systems that create the conditions for despair remain unchallenged. She urges community to refuse entanglements with state institutions that attempt to dictate how we grieve, rejecting the expectation that Black mothers should quietly accept the deaths of their children while carrying the blame for their suffering. Canada expands the conversation, making clear that the violence of slow death manifests in many forms—chronic illness, addiction, economic suffocation, and the crushing weight of having to be “strong” in a society requires Black death for its own sustainability.

Kenjus and Tiffani push further, questioning the ethics of fighting for Black people to stay in a world that collapses all possible sanctuaries. What does it mean to “prevent” suicide in a society that is fundamentally structured to break Black people down? How do we hold sacred space for those who desire to leave while also generating new worlds worthy of the breath of Black children and adults? The conversation does not land on easy solutions or platitudes. Instead, it sits in the discomfort of acknowledging that staying and leaving are both responses to a world that is antithetical to Black grief, peace, and restoration.

In this episode, we also honor and acknowledge our ancestor, James Baldwin. Thank you for your life and your love. Thank you for continuing to guide us.

Stay connected: www.apocalypticeducation.org

Hosts: Tiffani Marie & Kenjus Watson
Guests: Canada Taylor Parker & Cassandra Edwards
Music By: Redtone Records
Production By: Jesse Strauss, Paxtone Records
Sponsored By: The Institute for Regenerative Futures

Note: All episodes this season explore themes of death, transition, and capture, with an emphasis on spiritual and ancestral grounding.

Black and BIPOC Care Resources and Contacts

Call BlackLine
Call 1 (800) 604-5841
*This resource is divested from the police
BlackLine provides a space for peer support, counseling, witnessing and affirming then lived experiences to folxs who are most impacted by systematic oppression with an LGBTQ+ Black femme lens.

Lines for Life Racial Equity Support Line

Call (503)-575-3764
Available Monday through Friday from 10AM-7PM PST.
This line is led by people with lived experience of racism and offers support for those who are experiencing the emotional impacts of racist violence and microaggressions.

BEAM-Black Emotional and Mental Wellness Collective

https://beam.community/wellness-tools/
The BEAM toolkit has outstanding resources to support your emotional wellness journey. Explore the BEAM website for grief resources and a local directory of Black wellness practitioners.