Ziyi Mai’s favorite economist is Milton Friedman. So when the native of Mainland China moved to the United States in 2009, it made perfect sense for him to choose “Milton” as his English name. Always eager to talk about anything relating to economics, the 29-year-old Milton admires Friedman because the famous free-market economist relentlessly advocated [...]

Raising a flag on a hill — that’s the word picture Cathy Heath uses to describe her decade-long fight to reform North Carolina’s annexation laws. Involuntary, or “forced,” annexation has long been a political hot potato in North Carolina. Cathy’s quest for reform began in 2001 when the Town of Cary threatened to annex her [...]

Walk into Dr. Charles Mann’s office and your attention is immediately drawn to the walls, covered with memorabilia from Bolivia. The mementos, gained decades ago when Dr. Mann took medical missionary trips to the South American country, reflect the birth of his long-term mission of ensuring that low-income workers in the United States have access [...]

Life is tough for Xavier Massey. The 16-year-old from Waxhaw, North Carolina, works part-time at Wal-Mart to help his mother put food on the table for his siblings. At the same time, Xavier attends high school as a sophomore. Xavier’s father died when he was just 5-years old, forcing the young man to partly support [...]

Barbara Gotay’s face lights up when you ask her about homeownership. “That was my biggest dream, to have a home,” she said. “Not for me, but for my kids. That’s the future for them.” It’s a future that wouldn’t have been possible without Barbara’s local chapter of Habitat for Humanity, a charitable nonprofit that helps [...]

John Amanchukwu is the baby of his family — and also the biggest. At six feet, six inches tall and 280 pounds, he made a habit of sacking quarterbacks during his career for North Carolina State University’s football program. The grit and determination needed for John’s success on the field laid the groundwork for his [...]

It took five businessmen at a church in Charlotte, North Carolina, to set Juan Nelson on the path to new life. That was no easy task: Juan had just arrived in the Queen City seeking recovery from a nagging drug addiction. His criminal record scared away potential employers. But after he joined a ministry geared [...]

Every popular super hero has an alter ego. Batman has Bruce Wayne. Superman has Clark Kent. Spiderman has Peter Parker. Lynn Daniell — executive director of the Raleigh Rescue Mission, a nonprofit serving the homeless in North Carolina’s capital city — has an alter ego, too. Throughout the year, Lynn changes his clean-cut appearance to [...]

Tricia Boyd had to hit rock bottom before she realized that political activism was one of her callings in life. For years the McDowell County native toured with a folk music band from Asheville, using her vocal talent in bars and restaurants to make a living. But similar to many others in this rural area [...]

Many historians refer to the years between 1890 and 1950 —commonly known as the “Jim Crow era” — as the nadir of race relations in the United States. Segregation was enshrined in law in the South, and de-facto segregation was culturally accepted in the North. Even in this hostile atmosphere, though, many African-American entrepreneurs — [...]