Sticky Note Conversations

What is the price of a Black child's life? Host Erika Washington sits down with returning guest Alvin Hill — entrepreneur, formerly incarcerated father, and constraint navigation researcher — to unpack two cases that shook the internet: the not-guilty verdict in South Carolina v. Rick Chow, where 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack-Belton was shot and killed over a suspected dollar water bottle, and the 35-year sentence handed to 18-year-old Karmelo Anthony in Texas.

Erika and Alvin go deep on the layers beneath both cases — from the complexity of young Black boys carrying guns in dangerous neighborhoods, to how a defense attorney can strip a child of their innocence in a courtroom. They wrestle with hard questions: Was justice served? Can you judge anyone's reaction? And what do we tell our kids about a system that was never designed for them?

Alvin gets raw about his own past, fathering a son in Southwest Detroit, drill music, and what it really means to teach Black children to maneuver a world that's stacked against them — without snuffing out their light. The conversation also touches on the calls to boycott Asian-owned businesses and what it truly means to support Black businesses with intention.

This one is layered, honest, and necessary.
  • (00:00) - SNC S3 Alvin Hill - "Murder Was The Case"
  • (00:42) - Intro & Context
  • (04:06) - Alvin Hill Returns
  • (05:05) - Alvin's PhD Journey
  • (08:25) - South Carolina: Rick Chow Case Breakdown
  • (20:11) - The Verdict: Was Justice Served?
  • (34:47) - Karmelo Anthony Case
  • (39:38) - Navigating Prison at a Young Age
  • (47:06) - The Justice System Wasn't Built for Us
  • (49:19) - Teaching Black Children to Navigate a Rigged System
  • (54:43) - Boycotting Asian Businesses: Is It the Answer?
  • (55:24) - Supporting Black Businesses


Creators and Guests

Producer
Erika Washington
Composer
Wil Black

What is Sticky Note Conversations?

To keep my thoughts in order and my to-do lists remotely manageable I create arrays of sticky notes on my desk and wall. New idea? Stick note! Someone I want to meet with? Sticky Note! Need to remember to pay a parking ticket? Write it on a sticky note. Over the course of the last year, I have wanted to create a podcast that allowed me to dive deep into conversations with interesting people.. I wanted to have real conversations that were more than sound bites or regurgitated talking points about fluffy topics. My hope is that each episode feels like old friends catching up. Revealing great information but also humanity, struggle, victory, joy, grief, and possibly, a flicker of transcendence.

I hope you will enjoy these as much as I do creating them.
Join me here every Saturday as I pull a new sticky note off my desk.