After massive protests followed the police shooting of a black man in 2016, the city of Charlotte took the unprecedented move of electing a majority-minority leadership. VICE's Alzo Slade takes a deep dive into how one African-American leader is navigating centuries-old economic barriers in the pursuit of a more just society.

Three days later, the pastor called me into his back office, sat me down, and the only thing he said to me was, “I probably should have done this a long time ago, but I'm going to have to let you go.” And just like that, the church my family had found when I was in first grade—the church I fell in love with after doing an internship at 13—after working full time since 18—I was now 26 years old and fired. Deep inside of me, I still believed the Lord wanted me in ministry. I just didn't know how, I didn't know when, and I'd honestly kind of given up on the dream.