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

Hi Joseph, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I created On the Shoulders of Giants in 2012 out of necessity. At the time I was working for the local Health Department, going into schools and teaching safe sex and domestic violence prevention. I used an icebreaker activity that included black historical figures. The students were to use the characteristics of the person’s name on the card as clues so the other students could try to guess the historical figure. One of my historical figures was Harriet Tubman. To my surprise, none of the students knew who Harriet Tubman was. All of my students were young black girls. I was appalled, and angry, and had to do something about it. I went home and consulted my mentor. He challenged me to create a platform to teach black history to not just our youth, but to adults as well. The goal was to create a platform I could use to solve a problem, a lack of information and direction problem within our community. Since then, I have continued building On the Shoulders of Giants to reach as many people as possible. The thought process was to use the black history information I know to empower and serve my community, which is not properly teaching our youth our history.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Over the past 10 years, I have used YouTube and my blog on my website to educate my community about our sung and unsung heroes of the African diaspora. My overall goal was to create a platform that could be easily accessed, and that houses an infinite amount of black historical information. As of now, I have enough black history information that you could learn about someone new from our history every week. This journey was not easy at all. I had to continue to learn black history on top of the information I already knew. But to continue to build something sustainable I had to make sure my knowledge base was continuously expanding. On the Shoulders of Giants (OTSOG) started as a blog section on another website I owned 10 years ago, but grew into something special that is useful to my community. I had to learn how to use technology to help create and promote my information. When I started my YouTube channel I had no idea what I was doing, all I knew was YouTube was helpful. After months of only 2 to 20 views, I became desperate and buckled down learning YouTube and more about the nuances of black history. One of my biggest challenges was finding my voice. I sat for years as a student of history, watching historians and educators wow crowds with their words, and I wanted to do that. The problem in the beginning was, I was trying to be like other historians instead of being myself. That severely impacted my message. But as I grew in experience my confidence also grew, and I became more comfortable with myself and how I teach, which helped my platform begin to grow into what it is today. The greatest lessons I have learned so far are to master your craft through practice, get a mentor, don’t be afraid to fail, and trust yourself and your abilities.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My success is due to the mentorship and help of a few people. Starting with my parents Wallace and Inez Ward. My dad was a professor of African American history at Florida A&M University, so he helped to set the foundation for my love of history. My mother was the main person who encouraged me to learn as much as I could as a college student so I could utilize the information. Mr. Keith Turner is the mentor I mentioned earlier who helped to inspire me to create On the Shoulders of Giants. He has helped me learn more about black history and our historical figures, as well as how to use technology to reach more people with my information. Mr. Leroy JAckson and Mr. Sam Carter were the men who taught me how to be a professional. They took me under their wings, step-by-step, teaching me to become a competent professional and build and master my skill sets. I was a long-time student of Dr. Runoko Rashidi, Dr. John Henrock Clarke, and Dr. Yosef Ben-Jochannan, African history giants. I admired all three men from a distance, but in 2021, I had the opportunity to connect and begin building with Dr. Runoko Rashidi. I was able to meet and work with one of my heroes. I also want to give credit to my Tallahassee, FL community. I was nurtured by my community and they continue to support me to this day. I can honestly say my community helped me become a successful person.

Website: https://www.ontheshoulders1.com/#/

Instagram: @ontheshoulders1

Linkedin: Joseph Ward

Facebook: On the Shoulders of Giants

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Ontheshoulders1

Image Credits
Photo credits go to Photos By Enigma Sept

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