Ian V. Rowe | The Question He Asked at Twelve

Before Ian Rowe became a visionary educator, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, founder of Vertex Partnership Academy, and author of the book Agency, he was a 12 year old kid from Queens standing in his family's living room, crying and pleading with his Jamaican immigrant parents to let him stay at a junior high school that was about to become all black after white families fled to a newly created annex. Then Linda Talish, his sixth grade teacher at PS 156 in Laurelton, Queens, gave him something he didn't even know he needed: the courage to challenge his parents for the very first time. In this deeply personal and unguarded conversation, one of education's most influential and controversial voices sits down with David Begnaud to share the story of the woman who believed in him when he was just beginning to believe in himself. Ian opens up about meeting Ms. Talish in sixth grade, a Jewish teacher who talked about her heritage with a certain reverence and pride, even in the midst of racial tension that was tearing apart their small middle class Queens neighborhood. He shares what it was like growing up as the son of parents who came to the United States in 1968, the year of Martin Luther King's assassination, with his father becoming one of the first black engineers at IBM and his mother a financial securities analyst at Manufacturer's Hanover Bank. He reflects on the Sunday night before transfer papers were due, standing in front of his parents in their living room, begging and crying to stay at junior high school 231, and saying the words that changed everything: Just because everyone that's left is black, why does it have to be bad?. Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com Chapters ☀️ ABOUT THIS PODCAST: The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question. David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning. Host: David Begnaud Guest: Ian Rowe Executive Producer: Olivier Delfosse Booker: Sully Bloch Director of Photography: Foster Parks Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative) Social: Maxim Trofimenko, Kylee Anderson, Gracie Pekrul Theme Music: Slipstream Post-Production: Longwave Digital, David & Luana Co. CONNECT WITH US: The Person Who Believed In Me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast