Life’s Must Haves: The Nighthawk Talks on Resilience, Brilliance and Perseverance
Magazine, Making Money Jessica Ussher – Investigative Reporter
Across many sectors today, employers stand united in their views of their employee’s workplace attitudes. Separating the ‘baby boomers’, ‘millennials’ and ‘Gen Zs’ are not only their differing years of birth, but also their varied approaches to work. Specifically, some employers comment on the lack of resilience and mental strength among Gen Z employees, with Forbes magazine reporting that 74% of managers and business leaders claiming to find Gen-Z more difficult to work with than other generations. Missing from these generalized descriptions is any mention of perseverance or tenacity, reflecting educator and reformer Booker T Washington’s adage “character not circumstance makes the person”. To say that post baby boomer and millennial generations are completely devoid of endurance would be false, but there appears to be a societal downturn towards a more relaxed approach to work, begging a wider question: how do today’s young people deal generally with life’s difficulties? However, running parallel to this is another maxim that has governed ethnic minorities and immigrants for generations, that of working “twice as hard”.
Felix Giles: From Navy Hero to NASCAR Trailblazer – A Journey of Resilience and Triumph
Psychologists have stated that the formative years of a person’s life mentally wires their mind, creating predilections and tendencies towards certain things and seemingly unnatural inclinations against others. This experiential extension of a person’s personality is where nature meets nurture. Felix Giles, known to many as the Nighthawk makes up the minute 0.007 percent of society with a personality type needed for his submarine duty as a submarine driver, SONAR Technician and Naval Instructor. Giles was also the first Black racer to participate in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and most significantly become the first African American to race in the Baja 1,000 Offroad Desert Race in Baja, Mexico. Complementing his racing and navy career, Giles was a member of the Nuclear Weapons Reliability Program and Foreign Military Sales team, as well as a College Professor lecturing in Computer Science and Information Systems. Additionally, Giles was an Aerospace Engineer for several companies including Northrop, and a speaker who has visited countless schools inspiring young people to pursue racing.
However, leading a decorated life is not without setbacks. Aged 5, Giles was hit by a car and recalls laying out in the street in a critical condition. Life as he knew it was interrupted as he was rushed to the hospital with his mother at his side. From that point on, life was an uphill battle as Giles remembers waking up in a body cast, afraid and completely immobile. The memories of relearning basic human functions needed for life taught Giles tolerance at an extremely young age. Giles stated, “when you learn tolerance in the way I did, it will never leave you, it will shape you”. It was no surprise that Giles made a full recovery and continued school excelling academically.
Felix Giles & Michael Jackson
Sociologists write on the importance of the institution of family for stability, identity and belonging. Attesting to this, Giles spoke fondly of his father who showed him a gentle side to life. “My father was not only a gentleman, but he was a gentle man. Fortunately for me, I had the perfect example to follow,” said Giles. “He was a very calm man, so I became a very calm man, positioning me perfectly for my career in the navy”. Although Giles had the mental and academic aptitude required for naval duty, he had to engage with a deeper level of restraint as he watched several of his white counterparts receive promotions while he remained stagnant. “I went to over 30 schools and received the same training as everyone else. But when I would go for promotion and take tests scoring around 95 percent, other people would get 60 or 70 percent and our superiors would still promote them past me. I had to draw on the calmness my father taught me to survive in those conditions” said Giles. For Giles, life in the navy was rewarding. The hazardous nature of the job meant that submarine benefits were far superior compared to other military positions and highly remunerated. That said, submarine duty was also a challenge for Giles who recalled him and his colleagues learning every duty onboard including their primary role. This general competence was required to ensure that all duties were covered in the event of unforeseen circumstances. Confidence, self-discipline, resilience and calmness was Giles’ compass during his naval duty, especially during his longest mission of 85 days.
After 13 years of navy service Giles looked for a new kind of adventure and fell in love with offroad racing. With no formal training, Giles unconventionally mastered his craft over two years in the desert, while being a chase support driver to other off-road racers. Giles then met the Editor of Dirt Bike Magazine Rick Sieman, who saw Giles as more than a chase support driver, but a true racer giving him his first opportunity to formally race.
Felix Giles & Will Smith
“A high point for me was when I was getting ready to race in the Baja 1,000 in Mexico. Before the race, a large group from the press told me that when I crossed the start line, I would be the first black person ever to have done so! I was just excited to race but knowing that I had made history was something else entirely” said Giles. In 1992 Giles’ racing accompaniments were recognised by Congressman Louis Stokes and entered into the Congressional Record. Giles’ success captured the attention of NASCAR who then invited him to race in the NASCAR truck series which was a truly rewarding experience.
Giles had to lean on his endurance yet again, as after many years racing the Baja 1,000, Giles was involved in a devastating crash and was critically injured. “I had other crashes. I crashed in my very first race, but I was minimally injured, and we still finished the race. In this crash I flipped over 6 times at 140 mph and never was unconscious. Every time I flipped over, I hit something hard. During the final flip a big rock hit me in the chest, and that damaged my heart” recalled Giles. This crash was disastrous, Giles suffered two damaged neck vertebrates, whiplash and bruising on his lumbar and ribs. Alongside Giles’ racing career he was also an engineer which was also severely affected after the crash. For a grueling two years Giles’ health deteriorated as he suffered daily heart attacks. “I would have up to seven little attacks a day. When I would have these attacks, they only lasted for maybe five to ten seconds, I couldn’t breathe during that time. Each time you don’t know if this is going to be the big one that takes you out”. This experience was reminiscent of the trauma Giles suffered at age 5 but his life continued then and thanks to his perseverance, and an exceptional medical team, it continues today.
Felix Giles
Giles’ life has taken him on a wholesome and fulfilling journey, as a celebrity himself, Giles has met other celebrities including Mohammad Ali and Michael Jackson and Will Smith. Giles has also had the honor of meeting Rosa Parks, an icon in the Civil Rights movement. As a College Professor at National University in Irvine California, he has imparted much knowledge and wisdom and spoke of rewarding moments when students have thanked him for his guidance and intellectual nurturing. Teaching is the core that binds Giles’ life experiences together. Giles leads by example by simply being himself, “I love to challenge myself and I’m not trying to impress an audience. I live my life the way I do because it is something I want to do”. This attitude towards life challenges the digital gaze of social media that many young people contend with, and calls the youth, especially young people from ethnic minorities to live a simpler life, relentlessly for themselves.
It is unequivocally clear that throughout Felix Giles’ life, he has displayed courage, brilliance, perseverance and resilience. Having overcome numerous setbacks racially and physically he has paved the way for many up-and-coming African Americans to take their place as the trailblazers of their time. Felix Giles is the embodiment of authentic unwavering success. He stands as a legacy and role model for ethnic minorities and African Americans transcending all employment sectors, genders and walks of life.
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