Dr. Christopher Bell

I have a reason.

See, if there were 100 people in a room with PhDs, statistically speaking, seven of those would be black.

And of those seven, four of them would be women.

Black men make up 3% of all PhDs.

A black man in America is more likely to be sent to prison than have a PhD.

So I make people call me Dr. Bell for the black men who will never get to become a doctor.

But I also got that from my dad.

See, when I was really little, I skipped a bunch of grades, and so I was always younger than everybody else around me, and I didn't really fit in, and I didn't know why.

And one day, I'm hanging out with my dad, just me and him, and I asked him about it.

And he says, listen, son, you are smart, and you are black.

And that is always going to make people uncomfortable.

And they're not going to know what to do with that, so they're going to blame you.

And I put that on like armor, because I needed it to survive.

And today, when people are afraid of the power that comes with that armor, well, then they call me intimidating or arrogant, just like my dad said they would.

And of course, my own brain goes, well, you ain't got to like me.

I like me enough for both of us.

I armor up.

But that armor can make me blind to the fact that it is also covered in spikes.

And it can keep people from wanting to get close to me, even when I might want them to.

Like now, I manage our company's staff, and I need to know how I'm landing with these young people who I adore.