In this episode, we speak to Charles Holley, author of the book, "Black & White: Healing Racial Divide,"  about his own encounters with overcoming racism, experiencing Jim Crow and segregation on The Man Versus Brand Podcast. We will discuss reconciling his own childhood self-doubts and feelings of inferiority that stemmed from growing up during a time where his blackness was deemed problematic. 

Charles is a Speaker and Author who specializes in Employee Engagement and Racial Healing. He a 30-year business professional who works in the technology field as a Senior Engineer. Charles was born the 17th sibling of poor sharecroppers in North Alabama during the civil rights movement. As a child, he suffered from low self-esteem and a severe speech problem, but overcame it to become the first college graduate. He married his college sweetheart and they has two children but their young son suddenly died. Charles credits his son's death with his success as a speaker and writer. Charles has written over six books with his latest, Black & White: Healing Racial Divide, receiving an international award from The BookFest Awards for Outstanding Non-fiction. He is also a Toastmasters International speaker and captured the district speaking championship in 2021.

By learning from these stories, we become greater as a nation, a people and a generation. 

Let's talk!

Quote of the Episode: “We have to go thousands of years into our past, and see how our ancestors lived. How they interacted with each other, way back then. Even way back then, thousands of years, this is pre Trans-Atlantic slave trade, we were fighting each other. There was racism amongst each other. Some of it would be based on clans and tribes but some of it was based on skin color too.” Charles on the discussion of  harboring racist ideas while being of that same race. 

Topics Covered:

Growth 

Empowerment 

Diversity

Race

Achievement 

Guests: Charles Holley 

website: speakerholley.com

purchase: Black and White: Healing The Divide

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q26U7V8

Guest watch/read/listen  recommendation: Luther: The Fallen Sun

https://www.netflix.com/title/81280035

Guest guest secret watch/read/listen recommendation: US Soccer 

https://www.paramountplus.com/

Host: Deeon Brown

website: deeonbrown.com

website: projectbigbrand.com/

linkedin: linkedin.com/in/deeon-brown-6b747b43/

Instagram: instagram.com/bestdeeonever/

Man Versus Brand:

website: manversusbrand.com

instagram: instagram.com/manversusbrand/