From a Two-Time Cancer Survivor to African Diaspora Superhero Novelist: Darryl Richie
By Lana Reid | May 29, 2024
As part of the Black Men Matter Series, Lana Reid sits down with Darryl Richie, author, speaker, and two-time cancer survivor, to discuss resilience, storytelling, and African Diaspora representation through literature. Darryl shares his powerful journey from surviving childhood cancer to becoming a writer and college graduate, and how those experiences shaped his commitment to telling culturally rooted stories. The conversation highlights perseverance, creativity, and the importance of representation in speculative and superhero fiction.
In this episode of The Male Perspective, Darryl Richie offers an inspiring and layered conversation about survival, purpose, and cultural storytelling.
Darryl reflects on his early battle with cancer and how surviving life-threatening illness at a young age influenced his worldview. He shares how resilience, faith, and imagination became tools for navigating adversity and envisioning a future beyond survival. Writing emerged as both an outlet and a calling, allowing him to process lived experience while creating stories that uplift and empower.
Throughout the conversation, Lana Reid and Darryl explore the role of African Diaspora history and mythology in modern storytelling. Darryl discusses how his upcoming works draw inspiration from the ancient and medieval cultures of West and Central Africa, blending historical elements with superhero narratives. He emphasizes that African-centered speculative fiction provides space for cultural pride, imagination, and representation often missing from mainstream genres.
The discussion also highlights creativity as healing. Darryl explains how storytelling allows him to transform pain into purpose and encourages others to see their experiences as sources of strength rather than limitation. He underscores that representation matters not only for readers, but for creators who need to see themselves reflected as heroes, survivors, and visionaries.
This episode reinforces the power of resilience, imagination, and cultural storytelling as pathways to healing, identity, and creative legacy.
About the Guest
Darryl Richie is an author, speaker, and two-time cancer survivor whose work focuses on African Diaspora storytelling, speculative fiction, and superhero narratives rooted in history and culture. His writing blends resilience, imagination, and cultural pride to inspire readers and expand representation in literature.
For more information on Darryl Richie:
https://www.calmandstrong.net
https://www.instagram.com/darryl.calmandstrong
https://www.facebook.com/darryl.richie
https://www.linkedin.com/in/darryl-c-richie-0946662a
https://www.youtube.com/@darryl2423
About the Series
This episode is part of the Black Men Matter Series, highlighting Black men who are authors, creatives, and storytellers using lived experience and cultural history to inspire resilience, imagination, and empowerment.
About the Host & Organization
The Male Perspective is hosted by Lana Reid, founder of Conversations in Color, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) grassroots organization dedicated to providing uplifting and community-building spaces of dialogue for Black voices.
Conversations in Color’s Current Initiatives
THE MALE PERSPECTIVE
The purpose of The Male Perspective is to dispel stereotypes and increase awareness of the experiences of Black men through open discussions, thought-provoking interviews, and the sharing of personal experiences that highlight the diversity and depth of the Black male experience.
SISTAS REBUILDING SISTERHOOD
Sistas Rebuilding Sisterhood is an intergenerational community of Black women who come together for relaxed, non-judgmental gatherings to exchange ideas, share experiences, and collaborate in a collective effort to improve the quality of sisterhood interactions in everyday life.
TAPESTRY OF BLACK VOICES AWARDS
The Tapestry of Black Voices Awards honors local communities and showcases the creativity, brilliance, and lived experiences of Black voices across the United States.