In memory of Priscilla Harvey, a grandmother, a mother, a community leader, a friend.
A joke I like to tell is that I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. My grandmother was a maid, my grandfather was a butler, and my mother was a cook for a prominent (white) Houston family. Although they worked in the service sector, we were “elite adjacent.” Accordingly, we often had access to silver platers, crystal vases, and yes, silver spoons my folks would bring home after work to dutifully clean and polish to take back the next day. They made sure to instill in me the value of serving others, which I have done in many ways my entire life.
In middle school I befriended and protected disabled students who were bullied. In high school, I mentored others who struggled to keep up in class. In college I founded a tutoring organization focused on providing virtual classroom services, which over the years successfully assisted hundreds children with standardized exam prep and, since college, I have led ministries for the homeless and unwell. Although not a traditional silver spooner, I have worked hard to use my privileges to give back to others and proudly enter this next chapter of my life ready to deepen my impact through service.
My academic journey at Harvard deepened my understanding of non-profit management, public-private partnerships and governance, and exposed me to entrepreneurs and successful interventions like the Codman Square health clinic and its proprietor Bill Walczak. Additionally, as a pupil of Dr. Winship’s from the sociology department I emersed myself in data analytics, focusing on econometrics and program design. My coursework with Paul Peterson, Fernando Reimers, and Roland Fryer about education reform coupled with others about the correlation of poverty and disease at Harvard medical school allowed me to explore the complex relationships between education, healthcare, and economic disparities.
During my time at Google, I gained useful skills launching education programs, designing grants and supporting workforce development. I was deeply involved in initiatives aimed at achieving education equity, empowering underrepresented talent in the tech industry, and addressing race and wealth-based health disparities. My work in grant strategy aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the social determinants of health. My team deployed 800 million dollars (of Google’s money) directly into the hands of diverse non-profit leaders.
However, my life took a sudden and unexpected turn. My grandmother (who raised me) fell seriously ill with cancer. I made the difficult decision to leave my job to be her hospice caregiver. She passed away a year ago in February of 2023.
In her memory I founded the Settegast Revitalization Initiative (SRI) using the same 501(c)(3) I had created 10 years prior dedicated to education (during a 2014 Kennedy school course taught by Carl Byers). An eye-opening study from Rice University revealed that my childhood neighborhood (Settegast.org) has a 24-year gap in life expectancy due to healthcare inaccessibility. Dr. Winship, my thesis advisor, introduced me to Bill Walczak (founder of Codman Square health clinic) and we formed a partnership with some folks from healthcare, tech, finance, and the pentagon to tackle this issue head on.
With a seed fund of $180,000, personally funded from my Google savings and stock, I secured a building (49-year lease) hired an architect, and built our a team. While our building is under construction, drawing inspiration from Martin Luther King Jr.'s writings and recent data, I am determined to conduct independent research both to learn more about how healthcare, education, and housing are critical drivers of inequality, as well as to upskill on what NGOs have done in response. This research will serve as the foundation for my immediate venture to stand up this health facility as well as for a future endeavors as a public servant in Texas.
Settegast.org
As a Kid, although my parents and grandparents raised me well, limited resources made it difficult to maximize my potential. But thanks to my family and a host of mentors and benefactors I graduated both from boarding school and Harvard University.
To pay it forward, I launched SOS to scale access to affordable tutoring. While I lacked adequate financial backing and operational know-how to see that business to the finish line, it survives today as "the sos foundation," offering free tutoring, test prep, and college admissions support.
At Harvard I took a special interest in caring for those experiencing housing insecurity. I wrote extensively on homelessness and now maintain my mother’s tradition of providing meals, toiletries, and cash gifts to those in need.
After a decorated career at Google, In memory of my beautiful and precious grandmother, I am now under contract to renovate a church event space into a health center for children, elderly, and veteran patients in Northeast Houston In response to findings that residents in Settegast have a 24 year shorter life expectancy due to lack of urgent and primary care. Settegast.org
In addition to boosting healthcare outcomes, the presence of a new hospital would be a catalyst for economic growth. Hospitals are major employers and provide a range of job opportunities, from medical professionals to administrative and support roles. This influx of jobs could significantly reduce the local unemployment rate and stimulate the economy. Further, the hospital will contribute to the social fabric of the Settegast community as Hospitals often become centers for health education, offering workshops, seminars, and wellness programs.
Our hospital in Settegast could become a beacon of innovation and research by potentially collaborating with Houston’s renowned medical institutions enhancing the quality of care available to residents but also putting Settegast on the map as a contributor to the broader community. This aspect of innovation and research can inspire local youth, create educational opportunities, and foster a culture of scientific inquiry and excellence.
And as a cherry on top, we will build 100+ new affordable housing units within 5 miles of the health center to unlock safe havens for veterans, those experiencing housing insecurity, and working class families who want access to their version of the American Dream.
I'm reminded by Dr. King's stance know as "the poor people's campaign" that Healthcare, education, and housing are the contributing factors to social inequality. And because I share his last name, I feel a duty a to play a small part in making things right. God bless America, God bless Settegast, and may God Bless SRI.
Yours Truly, Rahsaan
Places To Remember
The chance to travel abroad is often a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many. The exposure to different cultures is eye-opening, to say the least. With that said, here is a list of my 2023 travels, which I intend to elaborate more on in later issues:
SLOVENIA
Hot Wine and Christmas Markets
CROATIA-Dubrovnik
Waterfalls
Split
Zagreb
ITALY-Rome
Pizza
Pompeii
Naples
Cinquaterra
Udoa
Grado
Venice
Trieste
Ciprianni
SWITZERLAND
Zurich
LUXEMBOURG
GERMANY
Munich
Mannheim
BELGIUM
Berlin
FRANCE
Lille
Paris
Calais
England
Rugby
London
SPAIN
Malaga
Madrid
CANADA
GREECE
Athens
Olympia
San Torini
CHINA
Shanghai
Beijing
Xidong
AUSTRIA
Vienna
MAINE
Bar Harbor
Bangor
Cranberry Island
MARTHA’S VINEYARD
MONTEREY, CA (Pebble Beach)
CAMBRIA, CA
TELLURIDE COLORADO
Servant Leadership
Serving students has always been important to me. After Hurricane Katrina, at 11 years old, I went with my family and my local, Houston, Community of Faith Church, to help students clear the debris from flooded homes and inundated schools. We helped students obtain access to healthy food, clean water and transportation to their new homes above sea level, outside of New Orleans.
12 years later, we were faced with a similar disaster in our own backyard. In the destructive wake of Hurricane Harvey, which wiped away my moms home, taking our favorite clothes and baby photos with it, we launched a campaign to provide free tutoring and laptops to 500 kids who missed over a month of school due to facilities outages and truancy. On major holidays, we would pass out milk cartons full of canned goods, produce, and toys to single moms. And on Sundays, after church, we fed and clothed the homeless, and provided showers and toiletries to hundreds in need.
My family has always been made up of public servants, some choosing the ministry as a vocation, but seldom did it feel reciprocal. It constantly felt one-sided, like we were dutifully helping others. Until I met Pam.
One day, eight years ago, my grandma and I were walking down a path in Mink Meadows in vineyard haven, when we saw a familiar face. A cute dog, a blonde mom with a pep in her step, and her husband, the renowned yachtsman Nat Benjamin, greeted us with a warm smile. We learned that they were off to Pam’s summer camp where she teaches arts and crafts, climate justice, and music to diverse local Martha’s Vineyard island children from their backyard makers studio.
My grandma gleefully accepted the Banjamin’s dinner invitation and became fast friends with Pam. What stood out most about their work at their camp, Sense of Wonder, was their mission and how aligned it was with what I’d spent my whole life doing. Pam provides scholarships to native students on the island and to children of service workers who can’t afford lofty childcare fees. She sends food, supplies, and musical instruments by the boatload to Haiti to help farmers find a better life. She even employs working class island teenagers and provides them with vocational training and leadership skills. Importantly, she does this on equal footing, not in an imbalanced or hierarchical way. Pam sits on the ground, with the kids, she stands next to them during other activities; whether they are painting, singing, dancing, or swimming, the volunteers, the billionaires, and the bus drivers' kids are all the same.
Since then, I’ve spent most of my summers teaching poetry, tutoring math, and leading guided art therapy sessions with students around the island, both at Pam’s Sense of Wonder summer camp in vineyard haven and at the nearby Chilmark Community Center camp upisland which serves a more seasonable group of privileged sportsmen.
Last summer we hosted a workshop with over 200 combined campers to paint large murals about their spirit animals, family dynamics, and life goals. We challenged the kids, while painting, to write poems about the themes from the paintings that stood out to them. To my surprise, preteens evoked wisdom about positive body image, police brutality, climate change, equal rights, identity affirmations, and sustainability. Some of the poems were funny, while others made us cry. To this day, those canvases, and that collection of poetry are the best source of awe and wisdom that I possess.
Year after year, what surprises me most is that while on paper I’m teaching them, in actuality, they are teaching me.
From students In the Wampanoag tribe, the group indigenous to the island and eastern Massachusetts, I’ve learned that diversity is much larger than black and white. I learned that even I, as an inner city black man, a former at-risk youth, can and ought to be an ally for others who struggle and are unheard.
From some of our Caribbean visitors, I’ve learned that there is an entire diaspora of art and music out there to love and learn that speaks to me, and for me, even better than what I have encountered back home.
From toddlers, I’ve learned unconditional love. Teen counselors remind me how courageous we must be to try something new. And when students make a stick figure, a new art piece, or a paper mache rattle snake, I’m reminded that being a beginner is where possibility abounds and most grace is given, and that we should take on new challenges with pride and joy.
The most impactful memories have been: watching students who had a learning disability making sock puppets with as much vigor, skill, and focus as the rest; a student who had trouble sitting still, but who stayed in one spot for 90 minutes while painting an elephant sculpture; a young girl, who was typically shy, but during the performance for parents sang loudly and danced proudly on stage; and one child who seemed to always wear a smile, but in her poems we learned of her trauma and emotional needs.
Not only can we not judge a book by its cover, but if we actually take time to read we can learn more about our peers, and about ourselves than we ever thought possible
Since meeting Pam, I’ve had many ups and downs in life. I’ve made a fortune, lost it, and made it again. I’ve been heartbroken and a heartbreaker. I’ve gone in and out of school three times for various degrees. And I’ve seen 18 countries and 42 states. But no matter what happens, I know I’ll always be on Grove Street, in Vineyard Haven, at the Sense of Wonder camp mid-July, sitting criss-cross applesauce singing the jungle song with my mentors, cocreators, and friends.
Juneteenth Celebration
Please Join me at the Annual Juneteenth Gala in Monterey California to honor worthwhile charities and celebrate black culture.
https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTgwODMyTickets
A hole the size of a God
What happens when a hole,
that's the size of a God
Is etched and torn into the heart of a man?
As each day passes, it grows wider and deeper;
both vapid & invasive
And so with worn shovels, we dig around us,
desperate to fill it
With jewels, Juuls, and Jules
But they, those, and theirs fall short
A half drop in the bucket.
The shoe will never fit
Because there is no room for them.
Despite you being emptied;
there is no space for anything but grace
When you look for love in the wrong places,
sometimes you will find it.
But when you do, be careful.
The Abyss is a sinkhole,
we all occasionally pour ourselves into
Does it count as a surrender?
Does it count as a surrender?
If your soul has been defeated
By the humbling lows, and martyr's dust
Of ones once self conceited
Might it count as true submission?
When we're on the narrow path
But not because of righteous toil
But for grace from heavens wrath?
I've many things I don't deserve
including things are good
But most of all I don't deserve
His Mercy I've understood
So really, practically speaking
His will is now my goal
Because in my lowest moments, still
He chose to save my soul
Eleven Eleven -Love is the Key
Even if you have a car
And if you know how to drive
And you know where to go
And what time to arrive
Even if you have a house
That’s as cute as can be
With a garden or a lake
And a chair under your tree
Even if you have a box
And it’s contents guaranteed
To fill your heart and your soul
With both healthiness and glee
Neither car, nor the house
Or the box could ever be
Nearly useful, fun, or pleasureful
If you hadn’t got the key
So what’s the key?
You may ask, to the heavens up above
To car, and house, and box and hearts
The key is surely love
LinkHealth
Telehealth is a crucial advancement in healthcare, utilizing information and communication technology to facilitate interactions between healthcare professionals and patients. This can occur in two primary formats: synchronous, where exchanges happen in real-time through video conferencing or telephone calls, and asynchronous, which includes methods like emails and other store-and-forward techniques(1).
Research indicates that telehealth is particularly effective in managing chronic conditions that necessitate frequent and close engagement with healthcare providers(2). It allows for continuous monitoring of patient's symptoms and diagnostic outcomes, thereby enhancing the overall quality of care and patient satisfaction. Furthermore, telehealth offers flexibility and accessibility, making it a viable option for many individuals seeking medical support(3).
Key benefits of telehealth include:
Continuous Monitoring: Healthcare providers can track patient progress in real-time, adjusting treatment plans as necessary.
Enhanced Communication: Patients can easily communicate their concerns, leading to quicker adjustments in care.
Reduced Travel Time: Patients save time and resources by eliminating the need for in-person visits, which can benefit those with mobility challenges.
Access to Specialists: Telehealth can connect patients in remote areas with specialists who may not be easily accessible locally.
Improved Patient Engagement: The convenience of telehealth can encourage more patients to engage in their healthcare, leading to better health outcomes.
Telehealth is proving to be a transformative approach in healthcare delivery, especially for chronic conditions where consistent engagement is critical. Before the start of the COVID-19 public health emergency, the adaptation of telehealth was slow and fragmented due to many reasons, including clinician willingness and acceptance of telehealth(4,5), technological limitations, and a lack of funding(6,7,8). Consequently, telehealth use was very limited, even by patients in rural and remote locations lacking localized healthcare facilities(9).
However, during the COVID-19 public health emergency, there was a rapid and substantial increase in the use of telehealth to provide patients with routine care as safely as possible(10). The growth in telehealth during this period was important as it allowed healthcare providers to meet many of their patient's needs while helping keep them safe from infectious diseases that they might be exposed to in close quarters at healthcare facilities(11).
Additionally, the recent COVID-associated surge in telehealth has bolstered increased access to care, facilitated face-to-face interaction, and enhanced the overall convenience of care. Now, patients can meet with their doctor more efficiently, not only saving valuable time but also reducing the economic cost associated with taking time off from work or securing childcare.
While the COVID-19 public health emergency stimulated a surge in the adaptation and deployment of telehealth provisions and is generally considered a positive step towards improvements to access, delivery of healthcare, and the management of disease- the social determinants of health have affected the use of these services in certain demographic communities.
In 2005, UCL Professor Michael Marmot introduced the concept of Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) based on burgeoning research identifying social factors at the root of many inequalities in health outcomes. Marmot noted that “the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age” affected their health outcomes(12). Researchers have spent decades documenting disparities in healthcare(13,14,15,16).
As defined by health researcher Dr. Paula Braveman in 2006, a health disparity exerts a specific kind of differential influence on health that is frequently shaped by policies; it is a difference in which disadvantaged social groups—including the poor, racial and ethnic minorities, women, or other groups who commonly experience discrimination and social disadvantage—systematically experience worse health or greater health risks than more advantaged social groups(17).
Health disparities continue to significantly impact patient outcomes, even concerning telehealth(18). Early evidence highlights the existence of notable socio-economic disparities in telehealth usage during the COVID-19 public health emergency(19). In 2020, reports indicated that urban and rural areas alike exhibited lower telehealth service utilization among black individuals(20). These disparities in access to telehealth resources can worsen chronic disease outcomes(21).
Research has shown that populations over 65 years of age, those identifying as Black or Spanish-speaking, and individuals residing in areas with limited broadband access were less inclined to utilize video consultations. Key factors contributing to these disparities include geography, racial identity, and socioeconomic status, all of which intersect with inequities in broadband availability, creating a pronounced "digital divide."(20,22,23)
The digital divide is a complex issue tied to individuals' access to technology and the subsequent health consequences stemming from information inequalities. Communication experts Jan Van Dijk and Kenneth Hacker have identified four interconnected barriers impacting technology access and usage(24). The first barrier relates to a lack of digital experience, which may arise from either disinterest or anxiety regarding new technologies. The second pertains to insufficient material access to technology or network services. The third barrier focuses on digital skills, where a lack of digital competence and social support hampers usage. Finally, the last component involves inadequate opportunities for significant technology usage, which can perpetuate these health disparities.
Consequently, problems related to the digital divide extend beyond mere access to reliable high-speed internet and the necessary diversity of hardware and software for effective telehealth engagement. They also encompass challenges in Internet skills(25). The multi-layered nature of the digital divide has been reframed by communications scholar Massimo Ragnedda in terms of Digital Capital. Ragnedda defines digital capital as “the accumulation of digital competencies (information, communication, safety, content-creation, and problem-solving) and digital technology.”(26)
Furthermore, digital capital can be conceptualized as an interplay between adopted digital competencies and externalized technological resources that can be accumulated and transferred across different contexts(26). Ultimately, the quantity of digital capital an individual possesses directly impacts the quality of their Internet experience, which in turn can translate into economic, social, cultural, and political capital(26).
Like the health disparities associated with in-person care, evidence suggests a degree of intersectionality associated with inequalities in telehealth. Geography, race/ethnicity, native language, socioeconomic status, gender identity, and digital capital all exert a varying degree of influence on individuals' telehealth engagement and outcomes(27). Because of these various intersectionalities, telehealthcare providers are required to develop new skills in virtual rapport, which includes demonstrating empathy, the ability to facilitate efficacious virtual physical examinations and diagnoses, as well as demographically specific counseling skills. Unfortunately, this presents a significant challenge and will require considerable effort to achieve.
In summary, although telehealth has huge potential to surmount many longstanding healthcare problems, the digital divide presents a significant challenge to equitable telehealth adoption. To reduce inequalities and improve the effectiveness of telehealth, future telehealth interventions must be developed and implemented to meet the needs specific to people in low socioeconomic populations. Successfully building more equitable healthcare systems via telehealth will require the deployment of social capital resources, financial incentives, and political will among care providers, the health insurance industry, and government officials. Addressing these challenges is crucial for ensuring that the benefits of telehealth reach all segments of the population.
Citations:
McLean, S., Sheikh, A., Cresswell, K., Nurmatov, U., Mukherjee, M., Hemmi, A., & Pagliari, C. (2013). The impact of telehealthcare on the quality and safety of care: A systematic overview. PLOS ONE, 8(8), e71238. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0071238
Khilnani, A., Schulz, J., & Robinson, L. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic: New concerns and connections between eHealth and digital inequalities. Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society. https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-07-2020-0091
Gomez, T., Anaya, Y. B., Shih, K. J., & Tarn, D. M. (2021). A qualitative study of primary care physicians’ experiences with telemedicine during COVID-19. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 34(Supplement), S61-S70. https://doi.org/10.3122/jabfm.2021.S1.200517
Wade, V. A., Eliott, J. A., & Hiller, J. E. (2014). Clinician acceptance is the key factor for sustainable telehealth services. Qualitative Health Research, 24(5), 682-694. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732314521900
Green, T., Hartley, N., & Gillespie, N. (2016). Service provider’s experiences of service separation: The case of telehealth. Journal of Service Research, 19(4), 477-494. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670516666363
Smith, A. C., & Gray, L. C. (2009). Telemedicine across the ages. Medical Journal of Australia, 190(1), 15-19. https://doi.org/10.5694/j.1326-5377.2009.tb02221.x
Smith, A. C., Thomas, E., Snoswell, C. L., Haydon, H., Mehrotra, A., Clemensen, J., & Caffery, L. J. (2020). Telehealth for global emergencies: Implications for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 26(5), 309-313. https://doi.org/10.1177/1357633X20916567
Mehrotra, A., Bhatia, R. S., & Snoswell, C. L. (2021). Paying for telemedicine after the pandemic. JAMA, 325(5), 431-432. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.26112
Peddle, K. (2007). Telehealth in context: Socio-technical barriers to telehealth use in Labrador, Canada. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), 16(6), 595-614. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-007-9051-8
Samson, L. W., Tarazi, W., Turrini, G., & Sheingold, S. (2021). Medicare beneficiaries’ use of telehealth in 2020: Trends by beneficiary characteristics and location. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/medicare-beneficiaries-use-telehealth-2020
Haleem, A., Javaid, M., Singh, R. P., & Suman, R. (2021). Telemedicine for healthcare: Capabilities, features, barriers, and applications. Sensors International, 2, 100117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sintl.2021.100117
Marmot, M. (2005). Social determinants of health inequalities. The Lancet, 365(9464), 1099-1104. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(05)71146-6
National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (US). (2000). Health disparities: Bridging the gap. The Development.
Shavers, V. L. (2007). Measurement of socioeconomic status in health disparities research. Journal of the National Medical Association, 99(9), 1013.
Reiss, F. (2013). Socioeconomic inequalities and mental health problems in children and adolescents: A systematic review. Social Science & Medicine, 90, 24-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.04.026
Braveman, P., & Gottlieb, L. (2014). The social determinants of health: It’s time to consider the causes of the causes. Public Health Reports, 129(1_suppl2), 19-31. https://doi.org/10.1177/00333549141291S206
Braveman, P. (2006). Health disparities and health equity: Concepts and measurement. Annual Review of Public Health, 27, 167-194. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.27.021405.102103
World Health Organization. (2016). Global health observatory (GHO) data: Life expectancy. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO. Available: http://www.who.int/gho/mortality_burden_disease/life_tables/situation_trends_text/en/
Pierce, R. P., & Stevermer, J. J. (2020). Disparities in use of telehealth at the onset of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare. https://doi.org/10.1177/1357633X20963893
Samson, L. W., Tarazi, W., Turrini, G., & Sheingold, S. (2021). Medicare beneficiaries’ use of telehealth in 2020: Trends by beneficiary characteristics and location. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/medicare-beneficiaries-use-telehealth-2020
Rodriguez, J. A., Betancourt, J. R., Sequist, T. D., & Ganguli, I. (2021). Differences in the use of telephone and video telemedicine visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Journal of Managed Care, 27(1). https://doi.org/10.37765/ajmc.2021.88573
Zahnd, W. E., Bell, N., & Larson, A. E. (2022). Geographic, racial/ethnic, and socioeconomic inequities in broadband access. The Journal of Rural Health, 38(3), 519-526. https://doi.org/10.1111/jrh.12608
Hsiao, V., Chandereng, T., Lankton, R. L., Huebner, J. A., Baltus, J. J., Flood, G. E., ... & Schneider, D. F. (2021). Disparities in telemedicine access: A cross-sectional study of a newly established infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic. Applied Clinical Informatics, 12(3), 445-458. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0041-1730040
Van Dijk, J., & Hacker, K. (2003). The digital divide as a complex and dynamic phenomenon. The Information Society, 19(4), 315-326. https://doi.org/10.1080/01972240309487
Van Deursen, A. J., & Van Dijk, J. A. (2019). The first-level digital divide shifts from inequalities in physical access to inequalities in material access. New Media & Society, 21(2), 354-375. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818797082
Ragnedda, M. (2018). Conceptualizing digital capital. Telematics and Informatics, 35(8), 2366-2375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2018.10.006
Chunara, R., Zhao, Y., Chen, J., Lawrence, K., Testa, P. A., Nov, O., & Mann, D. M. (2021). Telemedicine and healthcare disparities: A cohort study in a large healthcare system in New York City during COVID-19. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 28(1), 33-41. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocaa217
Overcoming Adversity series coming soon
https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/589213674/entrepreneur-rahsaan-king-soon-releasing-book-on-overcoming-adversity
Hometown Hero
Sometimes hero’s run inside of burning buildings to save you. Other times they catch you when you fall. Often, they advise you before you make a bad decision or help you recover when you do. In my experience my hero’s include my family and mentors, who support me and my endeavors with unwavering conviction. 10 years ago nearly to the day, I founded SOS in my high-school dorm room intending to serve inner city youth with wrap-around education services, such as tutoring, coaching, and mentoring, aiming to resolve practical poverty and the poverty mindset. J Bush, MaxBowl & Co, and countless others leaned in to help us get off the ground and soften the landings from the lows. We grew an organization from zero to hero and transformed my views and expectations for my community and myself. That experience, start to finish, taught me more about business, academia, relationships, and faith than any other chapter of life. More importantly, it inspired me, in my own way, to seek to be a hero for others in need, specifically for the economically disabled. My current research and film work on homelessness, advocacy for black artists, BIPOC land reclamation efforts, and continued education philanthropy all directly trace back to the ethos instilled in me by these select long term benefactors. It boils down to 3 principles: seek justice, serve others, and love deeply. A life update, I am back in the classroom at Harvard studying MLK’s poor people’s campaign; I’m working with my family and partners to develop businesses and public-private partnerships to create equity in healthcare, education, and housing. I’m helping a few black and indigenous artists earn mainstream notoriety. I’m producing a documentary on homelessness and housing insecurity in the Black community. If you know anyone interested in education volunteerism, healthcare implementation in poor communities, real estate development in the Texas Black community, or modern black-made Art, please let me know. In the meantime, reflect on who your own hero’s are, what they’ve taught you, and how you can pay it forward. Cheerfully, Rk.
Homeless at Harvard
A little known fact about me amongst my peers is that a significant portion of my young adult life has been spent in fellowship with the American homeless community. My mother and I spent every Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember passing out milk baskets of food and toiletries to homeless folks in texas. My church had a ministry called Massechaba, which used to provide meals and career readiness services after service. My uncle Bo spent several years under the bridge after vietnam. My good friend, Justin, was also homeless. He committed suicide my junior year of college, and I always felt guilty because I could have, and perhaps should have done more to help. Because of these experiences, I developed a deep empathy for and conviction to serve America’s homeless population, and desire to earn the expertise and skills necessary to do so with efficacy, as a Special Student.
During Undergrad, I developed a close mentor - mentee relationship with Dr. Winship in the sociology department, whose classes exposed me to the depth of American social inequality and its practical solutions. In his classes I learned about ethnography as a primary form of sociological research and gained appreciation for the facts that my talents as a writer and data scientist coupled with my socioeconomic background - a gang violence survivor, homeless-serving entrepreneur - uniquely enables me to immerse myself in complex communities as a researcher, ally, and servant for those in need.
Beginning in one of Dr. Winship’s courses, but lasting well beyond, for 18 months I followed 3 homeless men around Harvard square to learn more about what it looks and feels like to be one of them, as well as to learn how their experience here differs from that of homeless communities elsewhere; preliminarily I found that the Cambridgian homeless community is self regulating, deeply integrated, and characteristically benevolent and enterprising, compared to those elsewhere who are much more prone to drug abuse, low life expectancy, and suicidal ideation. Yet, I want to take my ethnography and service to the next level. I am currently working on a documentary about Billy (William Collins), who was a drug addict (now sober), who, thanks to our time together now has housing, a job, and no known chemical dependencies. I intend to tell his story, but also to tell the story of countless others in an effort to humanize the homeless and to attract resources to entities that serve them at scale.
Ultimately I would like to run an NGO that delivers housing, healthcare, and education to marginalized communities, but first I aspire to round out my expertise with formal coursework in microeconomics, psychology, program evaluation, sociology, and VES. In addition to the classes I take, I intend to publish two articles - one about the Harvard area homeless community and its idiosyncrasies, and one about homelessness in general, specifically the statistical characteristics of the community and how governments and NGOs might most efficiently serve them. I expect to work closely with Dr. Winship and others to make sure that my academic experience is both broad and deep and am committed to doing my best work, both in service to Harvard, as well as to those who need us.
Family Business
My grandparents manufactured and sold beauty supplies during and after the civil rights era for women of color, when pantyhose, durags, and stockings didn’t come in darker tones. They brought eyelashes, perms, and wave caps to Texas and introduced cosmetics “for us, by us.” My first job was putting price tags on jars of hair grease, adding up figures on invoices, and putting hooks into pairs of socks. I learned more on our living room floor than Harvard could ever teach. Here is a photo of my beautiful grandmother, Brenda King, on one of the last remaining original “our colors” pantyhose. I’m in love with my grandparents and their accomplishments and take their legacy and lessons into every boardroom and classroom I enter. It is the reason I support local and minority owned businesses as well as the reason I intend to invest in family run operations. Much love and long live RBK ✊🏾
Rahsaan King
SOS + 100 Black Men of America inc
Empowering educators in partnership with the 100 Black Men Inc.
https://studentsofstrengthfoundation.org/100blackmen
Rahsaan King
Daanish's Diaspora
This piece really speaks to me. As one interpretation puts it, left to right tells a chronological story of the African Diaspora; From slave auctions, through the middle passage, to exploitation, commodification, institutional bondage, the police state, economic marginalization, to invisibility, to tokenism, and everything in between. Are sold at herexhibits.com
Rahsaan King
Daily devotion
Consistently spending time with God, and building kingdom pleasing relationships is the only true key to success. God has the power to deeply and fully change your life. Icdattcwsm
Rahsaan King
My mother sets a good example for me.
My mother reminds me weekly to cultivate my relationship with God, to be methodical about my day, and to be steadfast in my work. I am who I am and will become who i am because of her. I love you. LLtQ
Rahsaan King
My favorite two poems
both of these poems have been deeply resonating with me lately. I hope they bless and inspire you the way they have me!
If, by Rudyard Kipling :
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
_________________
2. Man in the Arena, by TR :
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
Rahsaan King
