Have you ever wanted a safe space where you can just exist?

Where for a moment in time you can be you, with all the intricacies and parts of you

that people don't always understand?

Welcome to In the Deep, Stories at Shape Us.

I'm your host, Zach Stafford, and each episode we create a space to be you, all of you,

in all your messy and complicated glories.

Every story shares what it means to be a black and Latinx man living with different hardships,

whether it's a struggle of identity, discrimination, or health, and how they've managed to push forward

despite the circumstance.

We hope to get closer, even if it's just a little, to a road of healing and understanding.

Hey everyone, welcome back.

So today I want to talk about something that affects us all, I think.

And that's the idea of how we see ourselves versus how others see us.

How many times do people think they actually know our story, the real story, based on assumptions

or cheeky photo we've posted online, or some water cooler talk we've had in passing?

And how many times have others just gotten it all wrong?

In Menwell's Life is one of those stories that we think we've heard before.

In Chances R, you've probably heard his story narrated by countless journalists covering

the events of One Late Summer Day that completely changed the course of his life at 14.

Or maybe you've heard about the prolific lawyer, Brian Stevenson, who helped him gain

his liberty after 26 years of imprisonment.

But Ian's story doesn't begin and end with a botched robbery attempt.

...