The Invisible Men

In the aftermath of Rodney King’s assault by police officers in the 90s and his attackers’ subsequent acquittal, Ian Rowe and Nique Fajors grew weary of a public narrative proclaiming that black men in America were doomed to failure under an oppressive system. A feeling of invisibleness struck both Ian and Nique who were then Harvard Business School classmates as the stories of men like them becam...

In this episode, Ian and Nique are joined by Will Crossley — a man who not only embodies black excellence himself but is helping children build pathways to excellence in their own lives. Will Crossley is president of The Piney Woods School, a historically African-American prep school in rural Mississippi and an institution that has been empowering black Americans to pursue their vision of excellen...

How should young Americans respond to structural barriers as they seek to carve out a place for themselves in the world? In this episode, Brown University economist  Glenn Loury  joins Ian and Nique to discuss how a foundation of grit can shape a new generation of black excellence. Glenn was raised on the south side of Chicago in a working-class family. Despite some obstacles in his yout...

In this episode, Ian and Nique are joined by  Bob Woodson , president of the Woodson Center and prolific champion for upward mobility, to discuss an “inspirational and aspirational” message Bob is crafting through the  1776 Unites   project. Amid a popular narrative of despair and victimhood around race in America,  1776 Unites  celebrates America’s long legacy of black ex...

Early  data  suggest the US is on track to see the highest year-to-year murder increase in history this year, reminding us that a majority of gun violence goes unreported and unaddressed. While reasons for this vary, the result is that a very small number of “bad actors” can cause devastating harm to underserved communities. In this episode,  Ralph Clark , the CEO of ShotSpotter, jo...