The Global I Am Podcast

Global I Am Episode 6: Chester Higgins and the Spirit of Our Worlds

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2589004/fan_mail/new] Chester Higgins Jr. is not simply a photographer. He is one of the great visual historians of the Black world — a man whose lens transformed memory into sacred text. A longtime staff photographer for The New York Times for nearly four decades, Higgins captured the spiritual architecture of Black life with extraordinary dignity and force. His photographs of Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, and Amiri Baraka at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture remain among the most powerful visual records of Black intellect, movement, artistry and spirit. His work lives in museums, archives, history — and in the consciousness of a people still learning to see themselves whole. () The Chester Higgins episode of Global I Am is now produced. It still needs a touch more work on the production end — but already it breathes. Soulful. Profound. Brilliant. What began as one conversation became two episodes — a rare gift unfolding at the intersection of storytelling, photography, revolt, memory, and the apex of a master’s eye. In this conversation, the lineage becomes clear. Gordon Parks became more than photographer; he became witness. Oracle. The Eye of Horus. The ancient Kemetic symbol of protection, healing, restoration — the eye wounded, then restored. Sun and moon. Spirit and return. Through that tradition, Chester Higgins does not merely photograph people. He illuminates them. His lens is not mechanical. It is spiritual architecture. Spirit. Soul. Excellence. He has become that rare artist who transforms as he reveals — reminding us not only how we looked, but how we loved, endured, struggled, prayed, created, resisted, and remembered. His presence itself becomes an archive of grace. Through Chester Higgins, we remember how to see one another again. Sacred. In the Spirit. Renewed. Global I Am. Wisdom & Grace.

Global I Am — Episode 5: The Black Legacy of Laughter with PBS's Geoff Bennett

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2589004/fan_mail/new] The Global I Am's Max Rodriguez welcomes PBS NewsHour anchor and acclaimed author Geoff Bennett for a candid conversation about his memoir Black Out Loud, the power of storytelling, and the role of journalism in strengthening democracy. Bennett reflects on the mentors, experiences, and defining moments that shaped his remarkable journey, offering insights on leadership, representation, and the importance of finding—and using—your voice. Topics Include: • The inspiration behind Black Out Loud • Journalism, democracy, and public trust • Mentorship and the power of representation • Leadership through storytelling • Race, identity, and the American experience • Building bridges across communities and perspectives • Finding your voice and using it with purpose A thoughtful and timely discussion with one of America's most respected journalists on truth, leadership, and the stories that shape our lives.

Global I Am — Episode 4: Dr. Dennis Kimbro - Think and Grow Rich, the African Code

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2589004/fan_mail/new] Global I Am -  Episode 4: Dr. Dennis Kimbro “Think and Grow Rich: The African Choice” In this powerful conversation, renowned author, educator, and economic thinker Dr. Dennis Kimbro joins culturalist Max Rodriguez for a far-reaching discussion on wealth, legacy, vision, and the future of Black economic consciousness. Best known for his groundbreaking adaptation of Napoleon Hill’s philosophy through works such as Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice, Dr. Kimbro has spent decades exploring the principles of achievement, ownership, discipline, and generational prosperity within the African diaspora.  And he is still only beginning.  Together, Kimbro and Rodriguez examine how “being in the black” is not simply an accounting term — but a visionary framework for imagining the future, building institutions, and redefining community wealth in the 21st century.    This episode of Global I Am explores a larger idea increasingly central to the movement: that community itself may be one of the world’s most undervalued asset classes. A conversation on economics, culture, self-determination, and the architecture of possibility.   A conversation around the prosperity of love.

Global I Am Episode 3: I Am Somebody: Jesse Jackson, Jamaica Kincaid, and the Architecture of Identity

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2589004/fan_mail/new] Welcome back to the full season of The Global I AM Podcast at the Nexus of THE Culture and Our Capital.   After our first 2 beta-episodes as well as episodes from our vaults earlier this year,  Global I Am will resume every Friday to share information from around the worlds of culture and finance.  For our first episode back, we lean into the wisdom of the Pacific Ocean at Point Loma University,  a Christian liberal arts university in San Diego, California, founded in 1902 and rooted in the Wesleyan tradition - Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) is named after its location on the Point Loma peninsula in San Diego, California, where it moved in 1973 In a rare and layered gathering of minds — Dr. Dean Nelson of Point Loma University, our Max Rodriguez of the Harlem Book Fair, Kenyan leader Wavinya Makai of Cambridge University, global financier Bill Huston and visionary Patrick A. Howell - explore the intersection of literature, leadership, and lived identity.   At the center stands Jesse Jackson as a living force through the people whom he inspired.  When he declared, “I Am Somebody,”  in 1984 and 1989 as a presidential aspirant, he did more than inspire -  he changed the nation, he changed the world.  Dean and Max talk about Jamaica Kincaid - a literary force whose voice, rooted in Antigua and expanded across the world, has shaped how we understand place, power and self-definition, from St. John’s to Harvard, from the Caribbean to the global stage. Dean E. Nelson, Ph.D., is a beloved award-winning journalist, author, and 21st Century thought leader who founded and directs the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU). He is also the founder and host of the distinguished annual Writer's Symposium by the Sea.  This episode moves across continents and disciplines: *  From the civil rights movement to the global diaspora *  From economic systems to cultural production *  From personal testimony to institutional consequence It positions Jesse Jackson as what he truly is: The bridge - between Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama, between protest and policy, between voice and power.

Bill Duke: Capital, Culture, and the $1.6 Billion Story

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2589004/fan_mail/new] Hollywood icon Bill Duke joins the Global I Am Archive in a conversation that examines the intersection of capital and culture. At Global I Am we operate from a simple premise: culture is not separate from markets — culture is markets. Across films in which Duke has acted, directed, or produced, the combined box office impact exceeds $1.6 billion, including projects such as Predator, Sister Act II, Payback, Red Dragon, and X-Men: The Last Stand. Nearly 80% of these films are major studio productions, with over 70% profitable, reflecting the rare combination of artistic mastery and professional discipline that defines Duke’s career. Yet the deeper story is craft. With more credits behind the camera than in front of it, Duke has spent decades refining his work across film and television—from Kojak and Miami Vice to Black Lightning. In Global I Am terms, Bill Duke represents the fusion of story, wisdom, and enterprise - a modern global griot whose legacy reminds us that the oldest technology in human civilization remains the story itself.