Author Dr. Deji Ayoade: I Am Living Proof Of The American Dream

An Interview With Jake Frankel

You need to ask yourself these questions before someone else asks you. While you do not owe the answers to anyone, you owe them to yourself — because they will drive you once the struggle begins.

Is the American Dream still alive? If you speak to many of the immigrants we spoke to, who came to this country with nothing but grit, resilience, and a dream, they will tell you that it certainly is still alive.

As a part of our series about immigrant success stories, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. ‘Deji Ayoade.

Dr. ‘Deji Ayoade (ah-yo-AH-day) is the first African immigrant to become a nuclear missile operator in the United States Air Force and serve in three U.S. military branches. He is a memoir author and poet who strives to touch the lives of his readers through heartfelt storytelling. In addition to his memoir and companion poetry book, he is the author of Selah! Selah! (Pause and Think): Poetry.

Enduring a childhood of impoverishment and loss, storytelling was his safe haven, becoming his way of envisioning a future. Moreover, the power of the written…