Black Men Matter Series: Behind the Mask, Mentoring & the Power of Community for Boys | Ashanti Branch

Black Men Matter Series: 7 Baby Steps from Grown Boy to Manhood | Dr. James Hall

In this episode of The Male Perspective, host Lana Reid sits down with Dr. James Hall - Author, Physician, and Founder of the Mighty Men Academy, to discuss an issue impacting families and communities today: fatherlessness. Dr. Hall shares insights from his book, Grown Boys: 7 Baby Steps to Manhood for a Fatherless Generation, explaining why so many men struggle with direction, identity, and responsibility and what it takes to transition from malehood to manhood. His seven step framework and assessment tools provide a path for personal development from “grown boy” or immature male to a man defined by character.The discussion explores the real impact of growing up without a father, why it affects boys differently, and how mentorship and accountability can help close that gap. Dr. Hall also speaks to the importance of a spiritual foundation and its role in shaping how men approach responsibility and leadership.𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗿. 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹:http://grownboys.comhttps://www.facebook.com/jamesjoyhallhttps://www.amazon.com/stores/James-B-Hall/author/B0GS3YNZV9...𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗱 𝗮𝘁:https://linktr.ee/theladylanareid. ..𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻:Apple Podcasts - https://apple.co/4019OO6Amazon Music - https://bit.ly/41UlLI2iHeart Radio - https://ihr.fm/3BOmdx4Pandora - https://bit.ly/3CezvD8Spotify - https://spoti.fi/40eoPxr🔔 Want to be a guest or have a guest idea? 📝 GUEST SUBMISSION FORM: https://forms.gle/owz3k5i3xpwzsEZs6#Fatherlessness #Manhood #BlackMenMatter #MensDevelopment #MensGrowth #BecomingAMan

Black Men Matter Series: Behind the Mask, Mentoring & the Power of Community for Boys | Ashanti Branch

In this episode of The Male Perspective, host Lana Reid sits down with Ashanti Branch, Founder and Executive Director of Ever Forward Club, to discuss the lunch conversations that sparked what would become more than two decades of mentoring, emotional development work, and youth leadership support. Branch reflects on what those early conversations with young men revealed about the need for community and explains how programs such as the Ever Forward Club, Peer Mentoring Club, and Social Emotional Leadership Academy now help students build trust, accountability, and emotional awareness.Ashanti discusses Ever Forward’s long-term outcomes, including a 100% high school graduation rate, and examines the harmful messages about manhood that boys continue to receive. He shares how the Taking Off the Mask Workshop grew into the global Million Mask Movement, where people around the world use mask work to confront hidden fears, pain, and questions of identity. He also discusses how Ever Forward supports educators through professional development, the purpose behind tools like the Adventure Card Game, and why emotional honesty and present fatherhood remain central to what young men need most.𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗵:https://everforwardclub.orghttps://www.instagram.com/everforwardclubhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/the-ever-forward-club/https://www.facebook.com/everforwardclubhttps://www.youtube.com/@everforwardclub...𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗱 𝗮𝘁:https://linktr.ee/theladylanareid. ..𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻:Apple Podcasts - https://apple.co/4019OO6Amazon Music - https://bit.ly/41UlLI2iHeart Radio - https://ihr.fm/3BOmdx4Pandora - https://bit.ly/3CezvD8Spotify - https://spoti.fi/40eoPxr🔔 Want to be a guest or have a guest idea? 📝 GUEST SUBMISSION FORM: https://forms.gle/owz3k5i3xpwzsEZs6#EverForwardClub #MillionMaskMovement #MentoringBoys #BlackBoysMatter #EmotionalWellness #Manhood #YouthMentorship #SocialEmotionalLearning

Black Men Matter Series: Tube-E Movie, Streaming Culture & Why “So Bad It’s Good” Films Keep Winning | Will Adams

In this episode of The Male Perspective, host Lana Reid sits down with Will Adams, indie filmmaker and owner of LokeKey Productions, to discuss his satirical comedy Tube-E Movie and the evolving relationship between audiences, streaming platforms, and modern independent filmmaking. Adams explains why viewers are increasingly drawn to content they openly critique, how “so bad it’s good” has become part of today’s entertainment language, and why imperfect films continue to attract loyal audiences in the streaming era.The conversation also explores the challenges independent filmmakers face beyond production itself, including the cost of theater screenings, limited access to traditional gatekeepers, and what sold-out grassroots screenings in Chicago revealed about audience demand for unconventional storytelling. Will also discusses whether streaming has created more opportunity for independent creators or simply changed what viewers are willing to accept from the films they choose to watch.𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗺𝘀:https://lokekey.comhttps://watch.plex.tv/movie/tube-e-moviehttps://www.facebook.com/chitownwillhttps://www.instagram.com/willadamschicagohttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm4967186https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-adams-b1ab998a...𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗱 𝗮𝘁:https://linktr.ee/theladylanareid. ..𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻:Apple Podcasts - https://apple.co/4019OO6Amazon Music - https://bit.ly/41UlLI2iHeart Radio - https://ihr.fm/3BOmdx4Pandora - https://bit.ly/3CezvD8Spotify - https://spoti.fi/40eoPxr🔔 Want to be a guest or have a guest idea? 📝 GUEST SUBMISSION FORM: https://forms.gle/owz3k5i3xpwzsEZs6#TubeEMovie #IndieFilm #BlackDirectors #StreamingCulture #BlackFilmmakers #IndependentCinema #StreamingPlatforms #FilmSatire

Black Men Matter Series: The Link Between Sports, Education, and Black Genius | Dr. Dwayne B. Thomas

In this episode of The Male Perspective, host Lana Reid sits down with Dr. Dwayne B. Thomas, founder of Thomas Leadership Solutions, LLC and The Academic, Coaching, Enrichment, & Sports (ACES) Network. A former United States Marine, educator, and leadership strategist, Thomas earned his doctorate from Florida State University while serving with the Florida Department of Education and has spent more than three decades working across education, sports, business, and leadership development at the local, national, and international levels.Over the years, Thomas has made the case that the strategic thinking celebrated on the field is often the same thinking dismissed in the classroom. He reflects on how his own early exposure to sports shaped the way he learned to think, long before those observations became frameworks such as SportsGenius™ and Same Brain, Different Genius™. The conversation also touches on a scorecard he developed to identify communities facing educational crisis and connect those conditions directly to athletic culture, arguing that communities which celebrate athletic achievement may also be sitting on untapped intellectual capital that has not been fully recognized.𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗿. 𝗗𝘄𝗮𝘆𝗻𝗲 𝗕. 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘀:https://www.aces-network.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-dwayne-b-doc-thomas-ph-d-35054a61...𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗱 𝗮𝘁:https://linktr.ee/theladylanareid. ..𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻:Apple Podcasts - https://apple.co/4019OO6Amazon Music - https://bit.ly/41UlLI2iHeart Radio - https://ihr.fm/3BOmdx4Pandora - https://bit.ly/3CezvD8Spotify - https://spoti.fi/40eoPxr🔔 Want to be a guest or have a guest idea? 📝 GUEST SUBMISSION FORM: https://forms.gle/owz3k5i3xpwzsEZs6#BlackAthletes #BlackStudents #BlackEducation #BlackLeadership #BlackVoices #CommunityLeadership #BlackScholars

Black Men Matter Series: How Economics and Mental Health Shape Black Men's Lives | Bertrand Ngampa

In this episode of The Male Perspective, host Lana Reid sits down with Bertrand Ngampa - Author, Coach and Technology Leader, to explore the connection between economic reality and mental well-being in Black communities. Drawing on his upcoming book, Why Should White Men Have All the Money?, Bertrand examines wealth, access, and who has historically controlled opportunity. He challenges the tendency to treat economics and mental health as separate issues, arguing that in practice, each profoundly shapes the other. He also addresses why mental health resources and therapy can feel out of reach, not just financially but culturally, for Black men whose daily focus is economic survival. Financial instability, he argues, reaches far beyond income, affecting identity, confidence, stress, and how Black men see their role within family and society. 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮: https://1pmman.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/bngampa [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bngampa/] https://www.facebook.com/BNGAMPA [https://www.facebook.com/BNGAMPA/] https://www.instagram.com/bngampa [https://www.instagram.com/bngampa] . . . 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗱 𝗮𝘁: https://linktr.ee/theladylanareid [https://linktr.ee/theladylanareid] .  . . 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻: Apple Podcasts - https://apple.co/4019OO6 [https://apple.co/4019OO6] Amazon Music - https://bit.ly/41UlLI2 [https://bit.ly/41UlLI2] iHeart Radio - https://ihr.fm/3BOmdx4 [https://ihr.fm/3BOmdx4] Pandora - https://bit.ly/3CezvD8 [https://bit.ly/3CezvD8] Spotify - https://spoti.fi/40eoPxr [https://spoti.fi/40eoPxr] 🔔 Want to be a guest or have a guest idea? 📝 GUEST SUBMISSION FORM: https://forms.gle/owz3k5i3xpwzsEZs6 [https://forms.gle/owz3k5i3xpwzsEZs6] #BlackMentalHealth #BlackWealth #FinancialStress #BlackVoices #BlackEconomics