"All Skinfolk Ain't Kinfolk" with Nye Trusty

About this episode

Nye Trusty discusses identity, belonging, and the complexities of representation in education as a Black educator.

Nye Trusty brings a candid, layered, and deeply necessary conversation about identity, belonging, and why representation without inclusion is just window dressing. She's worn many names and even more hats: teacher, coach, doctoral student, and now nonprofit founder. In this episode, she gets raw about what it really means to show up fully in spaces that weren't built for you, including what happened when Black leadership asked her to strip her classroom of its Blackness. From growing up in Far Rockaway, Queens, to teaching seventh graders in Baltimore and Louisiana, Nye's journey through education is one of resilience, demoralization, and ultimately, radical reinvention. She opens up about the moment she knew it was time to leave the classroom, not because she stopped loving her students, but because the system had worn her down to the point where she had nothing left to fight with. And she's honest about something the education world doesn't like to say out loud: sharing a skin tone doesn't mean sharing a vision. Black leadership can cause harm too, and pretending otherwise puts Black educators at risk. Now, through her nonprofit, The TitheWell, and their groundbreaking…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Asia Lyons

Guest: Nye Trusty

Topics covered

• identity
• belonging
• representation
• inclusion
• education
• Black leadership
• nonprofit work

Keywords

• identity
• belonging
• representation
• Black educators
• nonprofit
• education system
• leadership
• resilience
• inclusion
• Tubman Project

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The TitheWell, Tubman Project

Places: Far Rockaway, Queens, Baltimore, Louisiana, Ghana

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