Meet DS BROWN: THINKER, WRITER, INNOVATOR

We had the good fortune of connecting with DS BROWN and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi DS, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I’m a southern gentlemen of color, born and bred in the ATL, proud to be from Atlanta. I’m also a child of an evolving South that continues to strive to create opportunity for people of color. The legacy of the men and women who marched through these streets as giants were true patriots to the American ideal, as it should be far beyond what the founders of this nation could even begin to dream. Knowing this truth is what made me what I am today. I stand on the shoulders of these giants, as do all of us Descendants of the Emancipated. This is what informs the person I am today: a thinker, writer, innovator, always aspiring dream maker.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
By virtue of my nature I truly enjoy learning and trying things, not as hobbies but as real work with a desire to build and grow. I’m a technologist by trade in which I earn my daily bread. I’m an IT Manager responsible for Agile Transformation. I’ve written several books, including Atlanta’s first Superman caliber superhero in the form of CHAMPION(www.championisborn.com) as well as a historical narrative on Freaknic (www.meetdsbrown.com/dsbrownstore). I’ve also started a podcast called Etch The Edges (www.EtchTheEdges.com), dedicated to bringing people closer together and closing our political ideological divide. I hold several patents, which I’m still actively working to monetize (www.hypefan.com). I’m incredibly motivated by people and uplifting our youth. To that end I’m in the process of developing a program to expose my perspective to more students and hopefully inspire more kids to take a dream and bring it to reality.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Metro Atlanta now is so expansive. It’s 29 counties that extend clear to the Atlanta border. And when you consider this there are so many interesting things to see, from movie studios to amazing hikes among mountain foothills. But, let’s imagine it’s not the age of COVID, here are a few things I might highlight: A drink at the Sundial to get a view of the city and check out the four corners of the South, Atlanta Sports by the season Atlanta United and The Falcons in the Mercedes Benz Dome, check out The Battery for the Braves, take in a Hawks game at State Farm Arena, chill out on the Beltway and Ponce City Market, lunch at the Varsity, dinner at Rathbuns, an afternoon on Sweet Auburn Avenue – Dr. Kings Home and the MLK Center, Centennial Olympic Park and the various museums, Piedmont Park, a concert at Chastain Park … just a few places. There are so many more. And some of the places we really don’t need to list. 🙂

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to shoutout my mother and my father. I’m D.S. Brown born Derrick Sherroid Brown, son of Bessie Williams Brown and John Heard Brown, born of Atlanta, Georgia by way of Newnan Georgia, Albany Georgia, Port Barre Louisiana, and various rural parts of southwest Mississippi. I shoutout the Brown/Williams family as hard workers, scholars, and proud Descendants of the Emancipated who value family and nation, even in the face of a despondent, divided and oft times deadly violent country. My history, my people, are who I am, and my mother and father preserved and fostered within me a desire to see to it that others can feel something of the same.

Website: www.MeetDSBrown.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meetdsbrown

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetdsbrown/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/meetdsbrown

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meetmedsbrown

Other: Podcast: https://anchor.fm/etchtheedges