"Black men are experts at hiding their fear," Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) says in this first video in The Root DC's "BrotherSpeak" series, a project in cooperation with the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. It's an effort to allow black men to speak for themselves about what matters most to them by reflecting on three simple words: "fear," "love" and "dream."
In this first installment, Ellison and others — including a nationally renowned educator, an actor from the award-winning series The Wire, a civil rights icon and an NBA player — weigh in on what scares them as well as why they feel they inspire fear in others. The conversation covers their personal experiences, Martin Luther King Jr.'s murder and even Trayvon Martin. Watch here: