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 became increasingly ignored in the public eye. So they launched “The Invisible Men,” a documentary telling the stories of amazing black men at Harvard University who achieved success by leaning on the core principles of family, faith, free enterprise, and entrepreneurship.Today, Ian and Nique have resurrected “The Invisible Men” as a video podcast. In their inaugural episode, Ian and Nique share their inspiration behind launching “The Invisible Men” documentary in the 90s and discuss why — 30 years later — their message of agency and empowerment is needed more than ever.Integral to the story of “The Invisible Men” is “Darryl,” a 16 year-old black teenager Ian and Nique imagined in the original documentary, who lives in the urban city of Forgotten, USA and desires to build a better life for himself but sometimes feels that success is out of his reach. Ian and Nique asked each of the men in their original documentary to advise “Darryl” on how he can forge a path to excellence and empowerment. Join Ian and Nique today for episodes of “The Invisible Men” every week as they hear the stories of incredible men and learn what advice they have for “Darryl” in 2020!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 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 excellence for generations. Ian and Nique dig into Piney Woods’ unique model of forming children’s character, grit, and self-efficacy in addition to providing an outstanding academic education. An alumnus of Piney Woods himself, Will talks about how the gift of a quality education, along with the influence of his mother and a strong church community, was instrumental in helping him find his vocation and build a meaningful career.