A Life of Evolution

Trailblazer Joseph L. Graves, Jr. believes that we can solve stubborn problems by applying the science of evolutionary biology.

- By Joseph L. Graves, Jr.

When Joseph L. Graves, Jr. was 15, his friend’s mother, a psychic, told him something that would stick with him forever. “I was in the house one day, and she just looked at me and said, ‘Joe, you’re going to have a very hard life. People are always going to be telling you that you’re wrong. But in the end, they will finally know that you were right.’”

Graves, now 67 and professor of biological sciences at North Carolina A&T State University, says her predictions were correct. He has spent much of his adult life tackling the topic of racism and trying to educate about ideas that many people don’t understand or would rather turn away from. He shares his journey in his newest book, A Voice in the Wilderness: A Pioneering Biologist Explains How Evolution Can Help Us Solve Our Biggest Problems.

In the first part of the book, he shares his path from childhood poverty to becoming the first person of African descent to be granted a PhD in evolutionary biology.