18 Sept 2026
WHO GETS COMPASSION? The Lindsay Clancy Case, Race, Womanhood & the Politics of Empathy
Today, I'm combining a few of my favorite things: women, race, and true crime.
And we're going there.
The Lindsay Clancy case has generated enormous conversation about motherhood, postpartum psychosis, mental illness, criminal responsibility, and the deaths of three children.
But that's not the conversation I want to have.
I'm not here to decide whether Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible. I'm interested in what happened around this case—particularly the extraordinary amount of compassion, curiosity, and complexity we've been willing to extend to Lindsay, and what happened when one Black juror saw the case differently than the other eleven.
It left me with a question I haven't been able to shake:
Who gets compassion?
Who gets to do something horrific and still have us ask, “What happened to her?” before we ask, “What's wrong with her?”
And would we be asking those same questions if the mother at the center of this case were Black?
In this episode, I'm talking about the Lindsay Clancy trial, the lone Black juror and the scrutiny that followed the mistrial, postpartum psychosis, the way Black women are often denied access to vulnerability, and why race can influence who we instinctively see as complicated, redeemable, broken—or simply bad.
And yes, somehow Michael Vick and the dogs make their way into this conversation too.
Because this isn't really an episode about Lindsay Clancy.
It's about us.
It's about the politics of empathy.
It's about our willingness to search for context for some people while allowing the worst thing another person has ever done to permanently define them.
And it's about something I think we should all interrogate:
Maybe the problem isn't that we've given Lindsay Clancy too much compassion. Maybe it's that we haven't learned to extend enough complexity to everyone else.
In this episode:
The Lindsay Clancy case and why I'm not interested in retrying it
Postpartum psychosis, mental illness, and criminal responsibility
The 11–1 jury split and the scrutiny of the lone Black juror
Why Black women don't always get access to vulnerability
The difference between compassion and access to complexity
What Michael Vick has to do with any of this
Why empathy may have more to do with identification than we'd like to admit
The question underneath the entire episode: Who gets to remain human after doing something we can't understand?
Next Week on Queens Behind the Scenes
Nobody Is Coming to Discover You.
There are a lot of incredibly talented women who believe that if they keep doing excellent work, eventually somebody will notice.
Somebody will recognize their talent.
Somebody will put their name in the room.
Somebody will give them the opportunity.
Somebody will discover them.
Queens, nobody is coming.
And that might actually be the most freeing thing you hear all week.Stay Connected
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Books + Tools
P.O.I.S.E.: The Blueprint for Escaping Burnout, Redefining Success, and Creating Your New Reality
Lead with clarity. Perform with purpose. Endure without burning out.
In The P.O.I.S.E. Method, Charise Beckett introduces a practical, research-informed framework for leaders who want consistent results and a healthy, high-trust culture. Built around five pillars: Precision, Optimization, Influence, Strategy, and Endurance. This audiobook shows you exactly how to align your goals, your team, and your systems so you can achieve sustainable success.
The P.O.I.S.E. Leadership Action Workbook: An Interactive Guide to Leading with Confidence, Clarity, and
