Barack The Great

 I entered public service for a few reasons, not least of which was my mother. She was an anthropologist and free thinker who instilled a little bit of her mindset in me. Another motivation toward this path was the recognition that I needed to figure out who I was as a Black American. I looked around and saw that too many Black folks were being shut out of the American Dream. I admired Civil Rights leaders like John Lewis and Martin Luther King, Jr. and knew that I wanted to follow in their footsteps. So, to me, pursuing a path in public service felt necessary. My salvation was there. So, in my early 20s, I found myself in Chicago working with folks who were going through all sorts of struggles, asking questions like: How am I going to find work? How am I going to get my kid a job or into college? What’s happening to the value of my house? These folks were going through hard times and I was seeing it in concrete terms. And that experience—listening to them, working together to build something better—became redemptive for me. In my mind, I thought if I could help the community that I had become a part of, maybe I could redeem a piece of America, too. That became my mindset. 

Take a listen to my conversation with Bruce Springsteen on Spotify. spoti.fi/RenegadesEpisode5