This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years, and now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint.
It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. I turned off news altogether.
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Let's meet at the facts. Let's move forward from there. and BC News reporting for America. Uh This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party, hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a can't-miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Experience music performances from major artists, patriotic tributes, and the kickoff to Giving Forth, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark celebration at America250.org. What's up y'all? Summer's got a different tempo.
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Try the new Tropical Butterfly Refresher from Starbucks. Mm. This is Lee Habib, and this is our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. Up next, a story from our True Diversity series, sponsored by the great folks at the Philanthropy Roundtable, America's leading advocate for you to support the causes you believe in. Today we meet a partner of their campaign, Ian Rowe, founder of Vertex Partnership Academies.
Let's get into this story. Take it away, Ian. My parents are from Jamaica, West Indies. They met in Mid-1950s in England, and my mom took a liking to this guy, Vincent. My mom's name is Eula.
And he was working on a sugar plantation. He was an accountant there. He's very smart. And they started dating when they were both very young. She was 18.
He was just a couple years older. And, you know, this was in Jamaica, so he used to pick her up for their dates on horseback.
So they had these magical dates and they fell in love with each other. And at the time, Jamaica was still an English Commonwealth. And so my dad felt that he had reached kind of the apex of what he could learn. In Jamaica.
So he had an opportunity to go to England to finish his schooling.
So he went to England. And after being there a few months, he missed his buds. That's when they called each other buds. And at the time, the British government required that if you wanted to marry a young woman, under 21. You had to write a letter.
to the young woman's parents asking for her hand in marriage. And so my, you know, Vincent wrote the letter of a lifetime. asking for her hand in marriage. There was much consternation in the Sivrite household because She was 19 at the time. Or she gotta leave to go...
Meet this man all the way in England, and after much discernment. Her parents decided yes. And so my mom at 19 years old in the mid-1950s, you know, a young black woman. took A boat. all by herself, about a five thousand mile journey.
to England. Two meet up with my dad and they got married. About a year later, they had my brother, and then seven years later, they had me.
So, both my brother and I were born in England, in London. And that's why we were born there. You know, they ultimately came to the United States. My dad became. one of the early black engineers at IBM.
And my mom started working for Manufacturers Hanover, which some of your listeners may not know, but it was a big bank at the time. It ultimately, Manufacturers Hanover, better known as Banny Hanny, became. Chemical Bank, which then became Chase, which is now JP Morgan Chase.
So that's how our journey started. That's why I was born in London because It was a dream. And in some ways, for my mom, That moment when Her parents said yes to this huge decision. I think, and I'll talk a little bit about my own sort of coming of agency moment. I think that's what she experienced.
This moment where she felt she had a lot of skin in the game. She played a role in her own destiny. And she was advocating to her parents to be able to go to England at 19 all by herself, something that wasn't done. But She knew that it was right. And it's a lesson I learned from my mom and my dad as well.
Every young person is going to face multiple moments in their life. When the future is unknown, where you're facing a huge decision, that you don't know the outcome. And yet, After you've mulled the decision, after you've mulled all the factors. Then you commit. You commit.
That's a part of agency. that you take ownership. of decisions In such a way that you know you are leading a self-determined life, you're responsible for your behavior for your attitude. That's ultimately what agency is all about. And I think for my mom, Having that first big yes many years ago.
initiated a cascade of decisions. that she and then she and my dad made which you know, essentially and ultimately in order to the benefit of them as well as their own family. My parents were married for 48 years. When my parents first came to the United States, it was. 1968, 1969, obviously a very tumultuous time in our nation's history, a lot of racial tension.
You know, there were riots in the streets. But they were very cognizant of what was going on in the country. They were raised in a predominantly black. Huntering.
So the role of race was far diminished. I remember my dad always used to say, you know, when he was in Jamaica, He was a man. He was a man. You know, in Jamaica, I'm a man. It wasn't until he got to the United States that he learned he was a black man.
And that had meaning to him. Because in Jamaica, your skin color wasn't the first thing that defined you. What defined you is much more... your actions, your attitude, your ambition. But in the United States, he felt that based on these external forces, you were a black man first.
And he fought against that. And I said Well, that's crazy, you know. Yet. They also recognized that the country was changing. You know, the Civil Rights Act had just been signed, the Voting Rights Act was signed.
You know, opportunity was opening up.
So in some ways, they weren't running from. Jamaica They were running T the United States. In search of a better life. And so They instilled in me certainly This idea that your effort and your character. And what you do.
matters far more than the singular characteristics. When we come back, more of Ian Rowe's story, our true diversity series with Philanthropy Roundtable. Here on Our American Stories. Uh Lee Habib here again. Our American Stories tries to tell the stories of America's past and present to Americans, and we want to hear your stories too.
There's some of our favorites. Send them to us. Go to OwlAmericanStories.com and click the Your Stories tab. Again, please go to OwlAmericanStories.com. and click.
the Your Stories tab. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years. And now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint.
It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party, hosted by America 250.
America's Block Party is a can't-miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music performances from major artists, patriotic tributes, and the kickoff to Giving Forth, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark celebration at America250.org. This Memorial Day, save on appliances at the Home Depot.
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Offer valid May 14th through June 3rd, U.S. only. Free delivery on appliance purchases $998 or more. See Store Online for details. When you own your own business, you own every decision.
Catch the red eye or take the 6 a.m. Make a new hire or promote internally. Celebrate a win with the toast at the gate or unwind at the lounge. Big props to this team.
Some decisions are a win-win, like earning 8x points on Chase Travel, Chase Fire Reserve for Business, the business card that gives back all you put in. Visit chase.com/slash reserve business to learn more. Cards issued by J.P. Morgan Chase Bank and any member of the IC subject to credit approval terms apply. And we return to our American stories and with Ian Rose's story as a part of our True Diversity series with Philanthropy Roundtable.
When we last left off, Ian was telling us about a pivotal moment in his mother's life. that being when she decided to move to England as a teenager. To marry his father. Let's continue with the story. Here again is Ian Row.
No matter what chaos may have been happening in the work. My parents were there. We first came to Brooklyn on Wyona Street. And Yeah, we had a very humble home. We were in a two-family house, and what was interesting about that time.
Was my parents, frankly, were not that happy with what they saw. How young black men Yeah. Operating their lives. They thought they were too loose and they were concerned, especially given the larger context of all the issues facing the nation. And so in Brooklyn, when we first got there, I was kind of unlocked that all of my education, kindergarten through 12th grade, was in public education.
So K-12 public schools. But from kindergarten, you know, I went to school in the morning, came home immediately, did my homework, we had dinner as a family, went to bed. Woke up, went to school, came home directly, did my homework. Had dinner, went to bed early, and so my experience growing up was very contained. Uh It's very contained, but Paris placed a huge value on being together as a family.
They place a huge value on safe. placed a huge value on education. I did love school.
Well, let's put it this way. I both loved school and knew that I didn't have any other option but to love school. You know, my parents placed a very high premium on education. You know, they came to the United States. during an era of severe racial tension.
And they knew. That if you're going to succeed in this country, The opportunities are there. But you have to be prepared. Once those opportunities come your way. And so that was really my early life.
My parents. would do anything for us if they thought it would mean a better life and capitalizing on what they believed America had to offer. And so in 1973, after we had been in Brooklyn for a few years. My parents moved on up. If you remember the Jeffersons comedy sitcom, we moved on to Queens.
We moved to a small town, Laurelton, Queens, into a community that had been predominantly white, Italian, Jewish, but was slowly becoming more racially integrated as more black people in particular were moving into Laurelton. And unfortunately, that slow integration led to a lot of racial tension. in Laurelton and my junior high school. Junior high school 231. Had become the epicenter, and the school board decided to solve this problem.
By saying, you know what, we're basically just going to punt. We're going to create. A new school. and addicts. in Rosedale.
Queens, which was another town a few miles over in a more permanently and predominantly white part of town. And essentially what happened was All of the white parents. that we're going to my junior high school 231 in Laurels. Decided to take their kids out and send their kids to this Annex Junior High School in Rosedale. Leaving Junior High School 231 as a segregated, virtually all black school.
And my parents, on the assumption that where the white kids go. That's where the better education will be. You know, that's what my Jamaican parents who come to this country in search of the American dream. That's what they presumed. And so therefore, being said to me they were going to take me out of 231.
and send me to this other school. And I'll always remember the Sunday night before the transfer papers were supposed to be submitted. I begged my parents. You know, my parents would crawl through broken glass for me and my brother. You know, they felt they would be good by us.
And so. There were a lot of things that they decided that I may not have understood in the moment, but I gave my parents the supreme benefit of the doubt in every decision. But something about this decision. didn't feel right. I loved my school.
I loved my teachers. And even this very idea, just because now all the white kids are gone, somehow it has to be worse. Why? Why? Why just because now that everyone's black?
That just inherently means that it's bad. And so something welled up in me, particularly that Sunday night, that never had welled up before. And I begged my parents. I cried. I pleaded.
Please let me stay. Please let me stay. You know, I'll work hard. I'll do more chores. Whatever it is, like I'll do it.
I commit. I'll work really hard. Please let me stay. And ultimately my parents relented. You know, I look back now and I wonder.
If in that moment, you know, because my dad was in his regular recliner in the living room, and my mom was on the couch, like in the same positions that we always had big conversations of the family. But I always wonder in that moment, Even for my mom. Did she think back? to the moment. When she was in Jamaica as a 19-year-old girl with this letter in the hands of her parents, making this huge decision, and she's asking them to go, I wanna go, it'll be, it'll work out.
I love him, I'm ready to go, and they said yes. I always wonder if that experience parallels. Cheering model. When I was begging for the opportunity, now at 12 years old, to stay in my junior high school. And I like to think yes.
I like to think yes because I feel like that was her. first coming of agency moment where she felt she knew that she could play a role. In her own destiny. And I felt at 12 years old after my parents said yes. that I had skin in the game now in a way that I never had before.
I wouldn't have said it then. but I certainly feel it now. That was the first moment that I experienced agency. That I was a force in my own future, that I had the ability to shape my destiny. And really that, yeah, that was a turning point in my life.
And I'm convinced that every big decision I've made going forward, particularly as it relates to anything related to my leadership in schools. is asking the basic question, why should it matter? What is the demographic makeup of a particular institution? Who cares? What matters is the expectations.
What we're asking young people to do. What is the metric for excellence? Are we holding everyone to high standards? That's what matters. And I'm convinced that the reason I run schools today is connected back to that moment when I begged my parents, saying, Who cares that all the white kids are gone?
I mean, I had friends who were white, and so it wasn't so much that, it was this presumption. that just being all black meant it had to be less than. And I never want anyone of any race, of any background to feel. just because they're kids of a certain background. in their school or institution.
Somehow it is less than.
So that's part of my story back then that I think has a huge impact on me today. And a terrific job on the editing, production, and storytelling by our own Monty Montgomery. And a special thanks to Ian Rowe, founder of Vertex Partnership Academies. And also a special thanks to our sponsor, the Philanthropy Roundtable. Their True Diversity Initiative encourages Americans to embrace all the qualities that make us unique individuals.
Is there so much more to each of our stories than what's defined by a group identity? Or other superficial traits. And my goodness, what a story he told about the segregation of the schools, even in Queens, white parents pulling out. and his parents wanting him to follow those white kids. and him having his coming of agency moment.
We said no, a terrific story about so many things. including Taking control of your own life. Here. on our American stories. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans.
It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years. And now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint. It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues.
Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party, hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a can't-miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music performances from major artists, patriotic tributes, and the kickoff to Giving Forth, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history.
It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark celebration at America250.org. Mom, can I have Lingo Kids? Saf! Lingo Kids, please!
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