Hero of 1000 Faces continues this semester

PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA ACEVEDO
Kirk Brown, CEO of HANDY Inc. (left) and Alexander Star, 2012 NSU alumnus and songwriter, speak at the Hero of 1000 Faces event.

As part of the Hero of 1000 Faces project, Kirk Brown, CEO of Handy Inc. spoke at the Adolfo and Marisela Cotilla Gallery on Aug. 21.

Hero of 1000 Faces is a project by The Belonging, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Advisory Council and the Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center. Every month, Black leaders give lectures about their impact on the community and change the narrative of Black men.

“This has been a wonderful series that we hope to continue and get a thousand speakers in here over the next couple of years,” Eileen Petzold-Bradley, engagement and outreach specialist in the BEDI council, said.

With his mantra, “Only your best is good enough,” Brown talked about ways to connect with the prospective students.

He also spoke about his nonprofit organization Handy Inc., which helps provide underprivileged adults a chance of receiving higher education like attending college and future employment.

“Handy is a special place and I knew we wanted to create something that fills the gap between those who are less privileged and everyone else,” Brown said.

Handy Inc. also has programs that provide housing assistance, therapy service and mental health assistance.

Brown said that if people stray away from those who negatively impact their lives, they shed a more positive light on themselves and allow others to grow alongside them.

“I have three sons, and I grew up in communities of poverty with no examples of anyone that made it out,” Brown said. “I just wanted to present an example [through Handy Inc.] that you can get out of that and become something productive in our community,” Brown said.

Brown went on to earn a bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice and corrections at Florida Atlantic University. Eventually, he got a master’s degree in social work with a minor in psychology at Barry University.

Growing up, Brown remembers a garbage man who lived on his block. Alongside Brown’s wife and kids, he said the garbage man is one of his biggest inspirations.

“He literally was one of the only people I knew that went to work and actually took care of his kids,” Brown said. “I was very impressed with him because he was also very knowledgeable on many things. He read a lot. I like people who are silent giants. There’s not a lot of cameras on them, but they do great things. And so that was one of my inspirations.”

Alexander Star, 2012 NSU alumnus and songwriter, gave a lecture for the Heroes of 1000 Faces project on Feb. 21. Brown reached out to Star to do music for a Handy Inc. promotional video. They worked together to create inspirational independent music for Star’s album “Library of Us” that Handy Inc. produced. Now, Star volunteers at Handy Inc. helping out however he can.