I created this episode because I’ve seen too many high-achieving Black and Brown women—myself included—blame ourselves for the very thoughts that helped us survive. We’ve been told to “think better,” “stay positive,” or “change our mindset,” without anyone asking where those thoughts came from or what they were protecting us from. That’s not healing. That’s cognitive violence—and we need to name it to reclaim our power.
What This Episode is Really About
In this episode, I introduce the term “cognitive violence”—a pattern I’ve witnessed in coaching spaces where mindset work is used to shame rather than support. I break down how thought-shaming can happen subtly, especially in coaching rooted in privileged perspectives that ignore systemic oppression and generational trauma.
We explore:
- Why mindset “reframing” often skips over critical context for Black and Brown women.
- How survival-based thoughts are not mindset blocks—they’re protection mechanisms.
- What it means when your biology operates on rules written by oppression (what I call colonized biology).
- Real-life examples of cognitive violence in action, and how to stop committing it against yourself.
- The difference between changing your thoughts and feeling safe enough to believe them.
- The importance of decoding your survival scripts before trying to rewrite them.
This conversation is a call to stop labeling our trauma responses as flaws—and start seeing them as wisdom. 🔥
Your Call to Action
Pattern break time → Ask yourself or a trusted friend:
- What’s a thought I’ve been shaming myself for having?
- When did I first learn it, and who taught me?
- What was that thought trying to protect me from?
Then write it down. Speak it aloud. Witness it.
Take a listen
🎧 Ready to evolve and command your worth? Press play. Then share it with a friend who needs to hear it too.
About Anita:
Anita R. Miller, MBA, PMP is a power strategist who discovered why qualified professional Black women stay stuck despite their credentials—and created the only system that fixes it.
After 20+ years in corporate leadership spanning risk management, project management, and supply chain, Anita identified The Leadership Language Divide™: the gap in access to language of leadership and the price paid when you don’t know it. While other experts focus on confidence and visibility, Anita saw that the real barrier was language—professional women were speaking like employees when they needed to sound like executives.
Through Power Speaks Your Name™, Anita teaches The Leadership Language Trifecta™ that closes this divide. Her system shows women how to stop speaking like they work there and start speaking like they run it—especially crucial as AI increasingly analyzes workplace communication patterns.
With 750+ professional women transformed through her frameworks, Anita’s pattern recognition abilities allow her to see workplace shifts and corporate failures before they become obvious. Her mission is clear: teach professional women the language that positions them as decision-makers, not just high performers—so they control resources, shape strategy, and change systems from positions of power.
As a sought-after speaker and thought leader, Anita challenges conventional wisdom about women’s advancement. She believes the time for hoping qualifications will speak for themselves is over—now women must learn to speak with the authority their expertise deserves.
Connect with Anita:
Website: https://powerspeaksyourname.com/
Podcast: https://powerspeaksyourname.com/podcast/
Take Action
Take my free quiz to discover how your nervous system and survival patterns may be blocking your clarity:
👉🏾 brigjohnson.com/stress-quiz
RESOURCES:
- Join my Newsletter, Unlearn and Unleash
- Join the Next Breakthrough Master Class here
- Register for the Next Melanin Hour here
- Book a Breakthrough Call here
- Share Your Takeaways With Me at brig@brigjohnson.com
- Stress Quiz
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