RuQuan Brown wears many hats: businessman, activist, musician, changemaker and more. As early as middle school, Brown organized protests against the wrongful termination of teachers after they taught Black history. Fast forward to his senior year at Harvard, Brown currently runs three organizations—Sparqs, STS Communications and Save The Students—all focusing on increasing community engagement in young people by developing and enhancing their communication skills.
“The main thing is really about advocating for groups of people who just don’t have a voice and don’t even know what they’re missing in many cases,” Brown said.
In 2019, Brown created the Love1 Company after the deaths of a football teammate and his stepfather, both to separate instances of gun violence. While Love1 has suspended operations, Brown is clearly dedicated to preventing gun violence and uplifting Black people on a communal level.
“We know our communities need young founders, young executive directors, young lawyers, doctors, mothers, fathers and friends, and we got to develop those skills,” he said.
Through work like partnering with neighborhood schools to develop students’ public speaking skills and developing their emotional intelligence to bolster healthy communication skills. Brown believes we must look inward in order to be the best leaders we can be.
“I believe the most important call is (updating) your personal policy, (updating) your personal software so that you can go out and make better impact,” Brown said. “Then you’ll show up and actually be the change that you want to see.”
Check out EBONY’s interview with RuQuan Brown, where we discuss his business ventures, activism and what measures he is taking to work against gun violence.
