The Invisible Men

In this episode, Ian and Nique are joined by Jonathan Newton — the pastor at Jordan River Ministries, an attorney for the federal government, and an adjunct professor at Howard University. Jonathan discusses his journey from the Bronx to Harvard Law School, and ultimately the Environmental Protection Agency, where he served as an attorney for nearly twenty years. An upbringing in the Bronx gave Jonathan the drive and desire to build a better life. However, it wasn’t until Jonathan completed Army training and reconnected with the church during a brief sabbatical from college that he found the direction to channel his drive and guide him toward a fulfilling career.Later, Jonathan shares what he has learned from his recent battle with a stroke. Jonathan’s journey of recovery over the past few years has inspired him to advocate for greater awareness among black men around the risks of stroke and lifestyle changes that can minimize a person’s risk of stroke. Chief among these lifestyle changes is sleeping more. When Jonathan was a student at Harvard Law School, it seemed perfectly normal to only sleep a few hours each night — but Jonathan has since learned that such a small amount of sleep is not nearly sufficient. Today, Jonathan is a strong believer in getting at least seven hours of sleep a night. Tune in to the full episode to learn more about Jonathan’s story and hear his words of advice for “Darryl.”

In this episode, Ian and Nique are joined by Yaya Fanusie — a former CIA agent and a national security expert in finance technology. Yaya discusses how his education, international travel, spiritual journey grew him from a teenager with a distrust of America and a race-centric view of the world to an advocate for the advancement of core American principles at the CIA and beyond. Yaya was raised in California, where he was deeply influenced by movements that taught him his “blackness” was the core part of his identity. Later, as he travelled to Zimbabwe and Ghana through his studies, Yaya met many black Americans who had left the US in search of a national home where their “blackness” would be a more central part of their identity. Yet, Yaya found that most of these people had not found peace in their new home. This experience, combined with Yaya’s recent conversion to Islam, caused him to learn that peace cannot be found by a change in external circumstances, but only through internal moral clarity and the embrace of universal principles.Later, Yaya shares his pathway from teaching to studying Al Qaeda’s recruitment techniques as a counterterrorism expert at the CIA, and how the teachings of W. Deen Mohammed helped him develop a proper sense of patriotism. Tune in to the full episode to learn more about Yaya’s story and hear his words of advice for “Darryl.”

In this episode, Ian and Nique are joined by David Hackney — a Washington State Representative, Harvard Law School and Harvard Kennedy School graduate, and former attorney for the Department of Justice. Two pivotal moments during David’s freshman year at Cornell changed his outlook on education inspired him to steward the opportunities in front of him. The first was advice from a recent graduate who had thrived socially on Cornell’s campus but was only able to find a job as an Assistant Manager at Burger King because he did not apply himself academically: don’t take a Cornell education for granted. The second was a mentorship with an older student who taught David how to balance academic pursuit with strong social connections. These experiences inspired David to work tirelessly to pursue a path that ultimately led him to Harvard Law School and an early career as an attorney for the Department of Justice. The capstone of David’s career was his recent election to the Washington State House of Representatives — where he currently serves the men and women of south King County.Later, David shares the work he is doing to reform policing in Washington state and his vision for a renewed relationship between police and the communities they serve. David believes that police have lost the trust of communities with high rates of crime. Recognizing that good policing cannot happen without the consent of a community, David believes there are steps policymakers must take to reform their methods of contact with community members and build trusting relationships. However, he also argues that calls to “defund” the police are ineffective and unhelpful. Per David, we need more and better policing, not less. Tune in to the full episode to learn more about David’s story and hear his words of advice for “Darryl.”

In this episode, Ian and Nique are joined by Charles Love — Assistant Executive Director of Seeking Educational Excellence and author of the forthcoming book, Race Crazy. Charles discusses how his upbringing and adult life in Gary, Indiana shaped his view of the greatest challenges facing black Americans. Charles did not pay much attention to politics as a young adult. But he became concerned during the Obama presidency as a rift grew between the real-life experiences of middle-class black Americans and the rhetoric of race-based victimhood that seemed to prevail. Today, Charles believes the greatest need in impoverished minority communities is not more government programs, but more entrepreneurship and a renaissance in private giving toward mission-based nonprofits. Most importantly, Charles advocates for more successful black men to demystify success for the next generation in vulnerable communities by preaching what they practice in mentor relationships.Later, Charles discusses how his work with Seeking Educational Excellence (SEE) is paving pathways to power for black boys and girls by advocating for quality STEM education in schools. In the words of Charles, “how you see a problem will dictate the methods you use to fix it.” SEE believes the core problem of poverty in minority communities is an insufficient pipeline funneling black men and women into great jobs — so they help more black boys and girls access a quality STEM education. Tune in to the full episode to learn more about Charles’s story and hear his words of advice for “Darryl.”Note: If you would like to see all episodes of The Invisible Men, please go to: www.invisible.men

In this episode, Ian and Nique are joined by David Mahan — Policy Director at the Center for Christian Virtue and founder of Frontline Youth Communications. David shares how “God’s people, God’s power, and God’s principles” helped him and his wife build a life of success and community impact after a difficult start as teenage parents living in poverty. As David and his wife connected with a strong church community, they found the moral compass and support network they needed to place their family on a path of restoration — a path that took David from cleaning people’s homes to testifying before U.S. Congress on pressing policy issues. Today, David’s career is dedicated to helping more young men and women who find themselves walking down a perilous path become connected with strong faith communities and begin to rebuild their lives.Later, David discusses how to restore a culture of strong and involved fatherhood in America — especially within impoverished communities. David laments the dearth of adults who have built strong families that are willing to invest in young men and women in impoverished communities. He calls on more role models to build ministries and community outreach programs to speak truth to kids who are struggling to identify the best path for their lives. Tune in to the full episode to learn more about David’s story and hear his words of advice for “Darryl.”Note: If you would like to see all episodes of The Invisible Men, please go to: www.invisible.men

In this episode, Ian and Nique are joined by Delano Squires — an Author at the Federalist and a long-time public servant. Delano shares how his growing faith journey and upbringing in an interconnected family from the West Indies have been center points of his journey as a writer. A computer engineering major in college, Delano was inspired to begin his writing career as the tragic murder of MVF NFL quarterback Steve McNair prompted him to reflect on how deeply the decisions of fathers affect their families. Since then, Delano has become increasingly convinced that human flourishing in America hinges on the revitalization of strong families and faith communities.Of increasing concern to Delano is the tendency of elites today to “raise the ceiling while giving lip service to the floor.” Specifically, Delano laments how many elites project language of oppression and avoid discussing central challenges like fraying families and communities, even as they build strong and stable families in their own lives. Delano responds to this challenge by calling on men who care more about their communities than their public reputation to speak publicly about the importance of fatherhood. Tune in to the full episode to learn more about Delano’s story and hear his words of advice for “Darryl.”Note: If you would like to see all episodes of The Invisible Men, please go to: www.invisible.men.

In this episode, Ian and Nique are joined by Chris Campbell — world champion wrestler, Olympic bronze medalist, and a practicing attorney. Chris shares how a deeply-engrained sense of intestinal fortitude empowered him to push through academic and athletic barriers and carve a pathway to success in wrestling and law. For example, Chris was unable to compete in high-school wrestling his junior year after his mother declined to sign a permission slip, so he travelled 45 minutes every day to a local junior college to train with men. In his senior year of high school wrestling he won a state championship and was recruited by Olympic champion Dan Gable. Later, Chris persevered through academic challenges and doubt to earn an amazing score on the LSAT and gain admissions to law school even as several people told him he wasn’t cut out to be an attorney.Chris also shares how his school’s emphasis on providing all students with exposure to holistic opportunities in academic, athletics, and music at a young age opened the door for Chris to identify his passion for athletics. In particular, it was one little league football coach who shaped Chris’s love for sports through his quiet, character-based approach to coaching. Tune in to the full episode to learn more of Chris’s story and hear his words of advice for “Darryl.”Note: If you would like to see all episodes of The Invisible Men, please go to: www.invisible.men

In this episode, Ian and Nique are joined by John McWhorter — public intellectual, Professor of Linguistics at Columbia University, and author of two forthcoming books, 9 Nasty Words and The Elect. Much like Ian and Nique, John was a graduate student at Stanford University as news of the Rodney King assault swept the nation in the early 1990s. John shares how he grew to feel alone in this time — becoming deeply impacted by the disjunction between a culture that was telling him he should feel just as much of a victim as Rodney King and a personal life experience that spoke to a much different reality. This dichotomy shaped John’s intellectual journey as he, a Ph.D student in Linguistics, began to explore the long-term negative effects of movements seeking to associate “real blackness” with a posture of victimhood.Later, John discusses prevailing expectations for black scholars and leaders to speak primarily about issues of race, despite their other interests and expertise. As an academic at heart, John finds great joy in growing and deepening his work in Linguistics apart from conversations on race. Yet, he continues to weigh in as an authority on such issues out of a sense of duty — because the challenges facing Americans today are serious and American children need to be taught to develop a sense of purpose, identity, and agency rooted in their own personhood, even in the midst of any barriers they might face. Tune in to the full episode to learn more of John’s story and hear his words of advice for “Darryl.”Note: If you would like to see all episodes of The Invisible Men, please go to: www.invisible.men

In this episode, Ian and Nique are joined by one of America’s greatest wrestlers — Lee Kemp — who reflects on a life of challenges and achievement both inside and outside wrestling. According to Lee, “I was given up for adoption at birth and was institutionalized until the age of five,” when he was adopted. Lee shares that his adopted father, who left the south for Cleveland in search of a better life, taught him the values of hard work and respect from an early age. Amid the racial unrest of the 1960s, Lee’s family moved from Cleveland to a rural Ohio farming community. There, Lee watched his father build a thriving farm while also holding a full-time job. It was at this time in his life that Lee was introduced to the sport of wrestling. Wrestling has informed one of Lee’s core beliefs: the reward of winning one battle is earning the privilege to fight another battle.Later, Lee discusses his experience in 1980 when President Jimmy Carter decided to boycott the Summer Olympics in Moscow — dashing Lee’s hopes of becoming both a multi-time world champion and an Olympic champion. Tune in to the full episode to learn more of Lee’s story and hear his words of advice for “Darryl.”Note: If you would like to see all episodes of The Invisible Men, please go to: www.invisible.men

In this episode, Ian and Nique are joined by James Stovall, the co-founder and former CEO of Little Bird HR. James founded Little Bird in 2016 to provide software, employee benefits, and HR support to New York City charter schools. After five years of empowering charter schools in the city, Little Bird was bought in 2020 by one of the largest firms in the industry. Essential to James Stovall’s decision to found Little Bird: a desire to leverage his experience working in the charter school sector to pursue his long-term dream of building a company that could address root problems he had observed in education.One crucial part of James’ early story: witnessing his mother exemplify a remarkable spirit of grit and resiliency as she rejected welfare benefits available to a single mother like her and got a job as an insurance agent to build a better future for her children. Later, James discusses the importance of overcoming prevalent racial narratives that instill feelings of helplessness and undermine personal agency. James has done so by fixing his mind on the open doors in front of him, and not the closed doors — keeping a steady focus on his own goals and the opportunities within his reach rather than ruminating over the barriers that stand in his way. Tune into the full episode to hear more about James’ story and his words of advice for “Darryl.”Note: If you would like to see all episodes of The Invisible Men, please go to: www.invisible.men