EPISODE 083 | Lived Lessons Learned on Privilege from a Criminal Justice Expert and Ex Cop
Listen to Peggy Kingsbury’s Story
An Introduction to Peggy Kingsbury + what we discuss
Last week on the show, we learned how to be a better human with award-winning entrepreneur and community engagement expert, Kia Jarmon — as Kia put it, part of being a better human involves Black people healing from racism and white people doing the work.
So today on the show, we have an example of someone who’s doing the work — Peggy Kingsbury. She’s a criminal justice expert and ex cop, among many other things, such as a successful entrepreneur and award-winning pillar of her community who focuses her volunteer efforts on social justice.
In this powerful episode, Peggy starts out by very intimately and openly detailing a traumatic childhood event that ties into her realization of and reckoning with white privilege and how it's touched every aspect of her journey.
Then, we dive into:
How white privilege kept her out of the foster care system and changed the trajectory of her life
Implicit bias and how it plays out in the justice system
How learning real history would have changed the way she policed as a young street cop in Georgia
And her thoughts for how to reform the justice system
If you’re white, you’ll leave this episode with proof that you can evolve, the knowledge that it’s okay to admit that you’ve had a leg up even in hard times, and inspiration to grow your strength when you need it most in the face of racism and injustices. You’ll also have a better idea of what white privilege is and how you can start addressing it in your own life.
If you’re Black, I’m not sure what you’ll take away from this episode. Perhaps validation, if you need it for healing. Perhaps hope for change if you’re running low on that. But, maybe there are no take aways.
TRIGGER WARNING: This episode does come with a trigger warning and especially for our BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) listeners. We discuss in detail the topics of what it was like living in the Jim Crow south as a little white girl, a normal atmosphere of overt racism and covert racism, the integrating of public schools, domestic violence, gun violence, abuse, alcoholism, and resulting trauma. Listener discretion is advised.
Scan the Highlights of Peggy’s Interview on Human Amplified
Getting to know Peggy
Peggy intimately and openly tells her life story with a focus on the life-threatening moment that defined what white privilege was for her, even when experiencing poverty
white neighborhoods
mental illness
domestic violence and how the police handled it
the moment it all became clear
Where Peggy has lived around the United States
Exploring if southern values are different from Peggy’s and Brandi’s values and/or from the rest of the United States
Self preservation as a value that leads to exclusion
Implicit bias and conditioned racism for white people to overcome
Profiling as a police officer
How more accurate and truthful education would have changed the way Peggy policed
The history of policing
What would make policing better — making the system more holistic
How impulsivity indicates future criminality versus courage and why that is
Biosocial criminology
How Peggy’s acknowledgement that George Floyd was murdered got her kicked out of an blocked from a police officer Facebook group helped her resolve to move from being a non-racist to an anti-racist
Why unlearning racism and re-learning truth with understanding and vulnerability is a life-long process for Peggy and others in her generation and after
How being part of a “ruling class” gives you a pass that others don’t get
Today, when Peggy isn’t focused on running her small businesses and actively working toward social justice, she loves to hike and be outdoors with her husband.
More About Peggy Kingsbury
Peggy Kingsbury grew up in the hills of North Georgia. After majoring in Criminal Justice at the University of GA, Peggy served as a patrol officer and police detective with the Athens, GA Police Department. Her interest in investigations led her to State Farm Insurance Companies where she began a career in claims investigations. From there she lived in several areas of the US enjoying various management positions in both claims and operations. In 2000 Peggy took the plunge to own her own business and opened a State Farm Agency, Peggy Hubbard State Farm, in middle Tennessee.
During the Pandemic of 2020, Peggy jumped at the opportunity to add another business to her portfolio and opened Kingsbury Mortgage, Inc. While both businesses keep her busy, Peggy thrives on contributing to her community.
Peggy has served on many Boards including Marshall County Memorial Library, Marshall County Dolly Parton Imagination Library (founding member), HOPEtown, and Wee Care (a non-profit daycare). She has been an active Rotarian for many years serving as club President and Assistant District Governor.
Mentoring and coaching new business owners is very important to Peggy and she does this through her Client Detective coaching program. Social Justice causes are at the root of Peggy’s volunteerism and she is the recipient of the Citizen of the Year award from the Marshall County NAACP.
Peggy has recently been granted the opportunity to volunteer with the Legal Aid Society, where she works with the Volunteer Lawyers Program in an administrative role that enables her to leverage her criminal justice background while contributing to the betterment of society.
Peggy riding in the 2021 Franklin, Tenn. Christmas parade.
Peggy’s Links
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CREDITS: INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC and episode editing BY RYAN SAULS. Episode production and graphics by Brandi Fleck. SOUND EFFECTS FROM ZAPSPLAT.COM. MID-EPISODE MUSIC IS “SAY YOU WILL” BY SHANE IVERS AT SILVERMAN SOUND STUDIOS. BIO AND PHOTOS PROVIDED BY peggy kingsbury.
About the Host
Brandi Fleck is a writer, artist, and a recognized communications and interviewing expert. She is also an avid student of human nature who’s overcome past trauma and founder of Human Amplified, where she helps people embrace being their true selves so they can expand more fully into their own humanity without fear of being seen and heard. Brandi hosts the top-rated Human Amplified podcast (formerly the On Being Human podcast). READ MORE
