We’re continuing Season 4 of Questions You Didn’t Ask with the second episode in our series: Sankofa & Solidarity: Uncovering Black and Native Legacies for Health Equity.

In this follow-up conversation, Niasha Fray and historian Dr. Alaina E. Roberts go deeper—confronting the political, cultural, and emotional realities of what it means to be Black and Native in a society shaped by settler colonialism, anti-Blackness, and historical erasure.

This episode unpacks:

🔍 The truth about Native American slaveholding—especially among the so-called “Five Civilized Tribes” 🧬 The complexities of identity and citizenship for Black descendants in tribal communities 🧠 How systems like the Dawes Act and blood quantum policies still shape who’s considered “Native enough” 🤝 What true solidarity looks like beyond symbolic gestures—and what’s still standing in the way 🎬 Reflections on Killers of the Flower Moon, the violence of erasure, and why Black-Native histories must be made visible

Through it all, Niasha and Dr. Roberts return to one essential truth: we can’t build justice or equity without reckoning with the past—and making space for the people it tried to erase.

🧭 If Episode 1 asked us to look back, Episode 2 challenges us to sit with the hard questions that arise when we do.

📘 Learn more about Dr. Alaina E. Roberts and her work: alainaeroberts.com 🎙️ Subscribe and follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Audible, or your favorite platform. 💻 Stream or read the transcript at: niashafray.com/podcast ☕ Support the show: buymeacoffee.com/niashafrayo