Long before Rasheed Newson was creating hit television shows or writing acclaimed novels, he was a kid in Indiana—wandering the library stacks, reading poetry, and quietly searching for someone who sounded like him.

In the absence of such a voice, Rasheed found his calling.

Today, Rasheed is the co-creator of Bel-Air, a television writer and producer with credits on The Chi, Narcos, and Lie to Me. He’s also the author of My Government Means to Kill Me, a coming-of-age story about young, gay, black man in 1980s New York City. And if you ask Rasheed, there’s plenty more where that came from. 

On this episode of The Resistance, Rasheed shares how that search for a voice he could identify with provided a claritiy and shape to his craft. He also shares how his experiences in community care and development helped him learn what kind of stories he was meant to tell.