Beyond the Uniform: What Dr. Elijah Nicholas Taught Me About Service, Courage, and the Revolutionary Power of Joy
By Charles Zackary King | Host, America in Black and White™ I have had the privilege of sitting across from some extraordinary human beings on this show. People whose stories have stopped me mid-sentence, made me rethink everything I thought I knew, and reminded me of why this work matters. But what I expect to experience in Episode 123 of America in Black and White with Dr. Elijah Nicholas, I am still processing it. And I mean that in the best possible way. There is something uniquely powerful about witnessing someone who gave nearly 25 years of their life in military uniform, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force and then, rather than stepping back, stepped forward into an even harder fight. Dr. Nicholas did not simply retire. He redirected. He took every skill, every lesson, every battle scar that the Air Force gave him, and he aimed it at the injustices facing the people most left behind by the very systems he served within. As the Founder and CEO of the Global Trans Equity Project, Dr. Nicholas is doing work that is not abstract or theoretical. It is immediate, urgent, and consequential. We will talk about transgender veterans who have had their early retirement benefits revoked, men and women who served 15 to 18 years and came home to find that the country they bled for had changed the rules on them. We will talk about the healthcare access gaps, the recognition failures, the discrimination that does not end when the uniform comes off. And we talked about what it costs, emotionally, physically, spiritually, to fight those battles every day while also trying to lead an organization operating across 15 states. And then — we will talk about joy. Dr. Nicholas is the author of Joy! A Journey to Choosing, Creating, and Living in Joy, and I want to tell every leader, every veteran, every health equity professional, every burned-out advocate reading this: this book is for you. Not because it tells you that everything is okay, it doesn’t. But because it teaches you that joy is not something that happens to you when the circumstances align. Joy is a decision. A discipline. A form of liberation. And in a world that profits from our exhaustion, choosing joy is one of the most radical things we can do. Dr. Nicholas is also a two-time Telly Award-winning host of Focal Point with Dr. Elijah Nicholas, an ordained pastor, a Harvard Divinity School certificate holder, a nationally sought-after keynote speaker, an actor, and the recipient of the GLMA’s Achievement in Advocacy Award. He is, in every sense of the word, a force and he is one of the most authentic, generous, and deeply human guests I have ever had on this platform. If you are a professional, a leader, a veteran, a health equity advocate, or simply someone who believes that the stories of Black veterans and marginalized communities deserve to be told loudly and clearly, watch this episode. Listen to it. Share it. And then get the book. The full episode is live tonight at 6pm EST on America in Black and White, Season 4, Episode 123: Beyond the Uniform, Veterans, Health Equity, and the Power of Joy. Available on YouTube and all major podcast platforms. Click the play button in the box below to watch live tonight August 6, 2026 at 6pm EST. Dr. Nicholas, thank you. For your service. For your fight. For your joy. And for showing up for all of us.