The Ryles Report

Political loyalty has become so deeply rooted in Black America that questioning the Democratic Party is often treated as an act of betrayal. Somewhere along the way, we’ve allowed our allegiance to political parties to overshadow our responsibility to hold them accountable. For generations, Black Americans fought for the right to vote, equal access to education, and a meaningful voice in the insti...

Are we really pro-Black if we aren’t supporting the institutions responsible for preserving Black history? We celebrate our ancestors, defend our history, and talk about protecting our legacy. But are we actually supporting the people and places doing that work? In this episode of The Ryles Report , I’m joined by historian, author, and Black museum advocate Jada Wright-Greene to examine why Black...

America has made progress on race. But progress and completion are not the same thing. In this episode of The Ryles Report , I ask what happens when America decides the race problem has been solved before the damage has actually been repaired. We go from Jim Crow and the psychological wages of whiteness to housing, employment, DEI, Black economic opportunity and the ways racial stereotypes have be...

Black America has more access, more representation and more ways to be heard than ever before. So why does it feel like we’re getting nowhere? There isn’t one answer. There are several problems at work—and in this episode of The Ryles Report , I connect the dots. I begin with something many Black Americans of my generation remember: somebody yelling through the house, “Hey y’all, there’s some Blac...

America would like to believe lynching belongs entirely to the past. For Black Americans, the history is considerably more complicated. I wanted to have this conversation because Black people are still being found hanging in America, and some of these deaths have generated concern among families and communities seeking answers. I am careful not to label every hanging a lynching simply because of t...

In 1933, Carter G. Woodson published The Mis-Education of the Negro . More than 90 years later, the question behind his argument is still uncomfortable: Does education teach us how to think—or condition us to accept the world as it has been given to us? In this episode of The Ryles Report , I examine Woodson’s ideas about education, independent thinking, Black leadership, economics, politics, comm...

America needed to look like the land of liberty. So they used Black people for the picture. Cold War image. Fairness on paper. Their benefit. Not ours. Brown changed the law. Two kids in the same building is not the same education. When their payoff faded, the handshake fell apart. White flight. Underfunded schools. That is where we are today. After Obama they announced a post-racial America. Same...

LOOK WHAT WE LOST. Before Charles Hamilton Houston helped build the legal strategy that attacked Jim Crow, before Dr. Charles Drew transformed blood banking, before Benjamin O. Davis Sr. became the first Black general in the U.S. Army, and before Robert C. Weaver became the first Black presidential Cabinet secretary, there was an extraordinary educational tradition in Washington, D.C. Dunbar High...

What if protecting our children from the painful parts of our history is actually leaving them unprepared? Growing up, there were things my grandparents did that I didn’t understand. We drove in caravans. We carried our own food on long trips. My grandfather made sure his clergy sticker was visible and kept a Bible on the dashboard. As a child, I thought nothing of it. Years later, I understood wh...

They say America has outgrown racism. That we are living in a “post-racial” society. I don’t believe that. I believe there is something much deeper we have refused to confront about racism in this country. Something that history keeps revealing, generation after generation. And I believe we’ve spent far too much time asking Black people to explain a problem we did not create and cannot fix for som...

Black America does not have a shortage of talented people. We have professionals, business owners, educators, organizers, voters, leaders and people with access. The problem is what happens when everybody moves for themselves. In this episode of The Ryles Report , Richard Ryles breaks down how a community becomes disconnected — from the way generations communicate with each other, to political lea...

In this episode of The Ryles Report , Richard Ryles sits down with Dedrick Straghn for a direct conversation about Black political power, economic power, education, integration, ownership, media, and what the Black community is willing to build for itself. They challenge the idea that voting alone is enough, question what integration actually gave us, and examine whether Black communities have bec...

There are some lessons our elders already understood that we are being forced to learn all over again. Who really has power? Who benefits when we stay divided? And when someone tells you who deserves your vote, your trust or your support, how do you know whose interests they are really serving? In this episode of The Ryles Report, I’m talking about political endorsements, corporate influence, the...

Our schools are failing Black children. But who is actually being held accountable? Students are tested. Teachers are evaluated. Schools are graded. Yet year after year, many of the same achievement gaps remain. In this episode of The Ryles Report , I sit down with longtime educator and former superintendent Dr. Anthony Hamlet for a conversation about what happens when we stop looking only at the...

In this episode of The Ryles Report , I’m asking some uncomfortable questions about integration, Black education, family legacy, generational wealth, politics, music, leadership, and the culture we’re leaving behind. I also share parts of my own family’s history—including an ancestor who bought himself out of slavery, a grandfather whose accomplishments I almost never learned about, and 500 acres...

For generations, Black Americans have been told a story about America. But what if the story we’ve been taught doesn’t match the history that actually happened? In this episode of The Ryles Report, I examine propaganda, racism, media narratives, education, the legal system, and how history continues to shape the Black experience in America. From Bacon’s Rebellion and the construction of race to mo...

Why do so many of the same challenges continue to affect Black communities generation after generation? Is it simply personal responsibility, or are there larger historical systems still shaping the present? In this episode of The Ryles Report , Attorney Richard Ryles examines how history, education, economics, politics, and community leadership continue to influence opportunities and outcomes in...

What really happened in Rosewood and Ocoee, Florida—and why were so many people never taught this history? Florida historian Dr. Marvin Dunn joins attorney Richard Ryles to discuss the Rosewood Massacre, the 1920 Ocoee Massacre, Black voting rights, Black wealth, school integration, and the history Florida often left out of classrooms. Dr. Dunn shares how he became a historian and why he spent yea...

In this powerful episode of The Ryles Report, Richard sits down with attorney and author Akbar Watson live from the Palm Beach County Schools Teacher Education Conference for a raw conversation on Jim Crow, education, trauma, and the lasting impact of systemic racism on Black communities. From his family’s personal losses under segregation to being one of the first Black students integrated into a...

In this powerful episode of The Ryles Report , Richard sits down with his Howard University School of Law classmate, award-winning attorney, and author Alicia Crowe. Together, they pull back the curtain on how the family court system systematically impacts Black families and why supporting fathers is essential to lifting up mothers and children alike. From exposing the regressive traps of child su...

In Episode 210 of The Ryles Report , Richard speaks with Hermon Johnson Jr., curator of the Mound Bayou Museum, about the extraordinary history of Mound Bayou, Mississippi—an independent Black community founded by formerly enslaved people. Johnson explains how Benjamin Montgomery and his son, Isaiah T. Montgomery, helped lay the foundation for a thriving center of Black business, education, agricu...

Dr. Ricky Jones us for a very passionate conversation on the state of Black America. 

In this episode of The Ryles Report, Richard sits down with Diante Pryer, co-founder of the Boss Link Conference, for a powerful conversation about brotherhood, mentorship, wealth-building, and the importance of creating intentional spaces for Black men to connect, grow, and be seen. What begins as a discussion about the origins of Boss Link expands into deeper reflections on mental health, grief,...

Welcome back to The Ryles Report ! In Episode 207, Richard delivers a hard-hitting breakdown across our signature trio of segments: the book report, the political report card, and the latest headlines making waves in the news. First, we dive into a powerful new book by 2 Chainz that serves as an essential guide for recent graduates learning to navigate life's critical crossroads. Next, we hand out...

In this episode of The Ryles Report , host Richard Ryles breaks down the week's biggest headlines across three distinct lenses: a political report card, a book report, and a news report. First, we debut our political grading rubric, putting New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Tennessee State Senator John Stevens to the test on everything from equity to ethics. Then, we dive into a brief review...