Born in Houston, Texas in April 1974, Chris Darkins has a unique ancestral history, with his grandparents having been enslaved in America. Darkins, born to Clarence and Claudia Darkins, grew up in an environment deeply shaped by the racism his parents experienced.

One of the lasting impressions he inherited from them was a persistent scepticism towards Europeans and Euro-Americans, a sentiment that has continued to mark his own experiences.

Despite later becoming a successful running back in the NFL, Darkins felt a strong desire to reconnect with his roots. This unexpected journey ultimately took him to Rwanda, where he experienced a stark contrast to his life as a professional football player, embracing a simpler lifestyle that included eating sweet potatoes cooked in clay pots.

But how did Darkins make the transition from the NFL to a humble existence in Rwanda?

The sportsman

A young Darkins found an interest in sports at a fairly young age, and he especially enjoyed playing soccer in high school, which helped fill the extracurricular box on his transcripts.

"My friends and I were the only five black people in our class. We dealt with closet racism from people who didn’t know there was a problem with what they were doing,” he said.

Darkins’ soccer journey came to a standstill when he joined college because soccer wasn’t as mainstream or profitable as basketball, baseball, or American football. These sports had large organisational structures that oversaw and regulated every move, unlike soccer where the payrolls only led to a lower middle-class lifestyle.

After maintaining a high success rate as a college football player, it was imperative for Darkins to be drafted into the NFL. However, the demanding journey felt like a bitter pill that left a strong aftertaste.

"Sports is the only area they allow us to excel because it’s entertaining, but at the end of the day there is a team owner who owns you. The vetting process to join professional football teams is you basically strip down and walk on stage in front of scouts, team owners, and general managers to see how good of an athlete you are based on how strong you are, how quick you are, and your body physique. Part of that process is being paraded in front of people who want to draft you and when you have a sense of self, it’s very degrading,” Darkins told The New Times.

During his time in the National Football League, Darkins served as a running back for the Green Bay Packers. One of the aspects he appreciated the most about his experience was the camaraderie among his teammates, particularly in the locker room. Unfortunately, his tenure in the league was cut short after three years due to a knee injury.

Becoming the ‘jailhouse lawyer’

At the age of 21, a young Darkins was pulled over for an illegal lane change. However, the charges did not hold up, and he was released shortly after being remanded into custody. Nevertheless, the brief period he spent behind bars reshaped his life and led him to discover his purpose, earning him the nickname "jailhouse lawyer”.

"In jail I was surrounded by a lot of people that looked like me, and they had been detained for reasons as inconceivable as a cop pulling a liquor bottle from the garbage and placing it in a person’s car to have a reason to arrest them. At that moment I decided to study the law to figure out how it is that I live in a free country yet I’m stopped off the street for nothing,” Darkins said.

"I did intensive legal studies and that’s how I started advocacy work. I would frequently find myself helping African Americans with documentation, and how to speak in court, but not as a licensed lawyer,” added the 49-year-old.

A couple of years after the incident and his departure from the NFL, Darkins’ name appeared on a list of 31 people suspected of conspiracy to distribute drugs, which was meant to put a standstill to his advocacy. Conspiracy charges, he said, are often paired with a sentence of 40 years to life imprisonment in the absence of a lenient plea deal.

Due to his acquired knowledge of the law, Darkins declined to enter a plea for the simple reason that the conspiracy charges didn’t apply to him, but rather opted to remain in custody until the charges were dropped, a fight he fought unaided for seven months, in prison.

"The charges were miscellaneous and the reason about 78 per cent of the African American people in prison are serving time. If they admitted fault with that case it would set a precedent that would trigger many cases to be reopened, but that didn’t happen. Most of the people on the same conspiracy charge as I took a plea deal, and seven months later when they had all signed it, I was released and the charges were dropped,” he said.

A year after his release from prison, Darkins received a congressional certificate affirming that he had been wrongfully accused and acknowledging his role as a wrongful convictions activist.

Moving to Rwanda

From operating a security company to pioneering a men’s mental health foundation and adapting to a nutrition style that exclusively entails indigenous foods, Darkins’ life in Rwanda has been quite the whirlwind.

In a quest to trace his ethnic origins, Darkins discovered that approximately 60 per cent of his genetic make-up favours that of Rwandan males, and it was that, and the country’s incredible landscapes and security, that inspired him to visit and eventually relocate to Kigali.

One of the most outstanding experiences from his stay in Rwanda thus far is switching from a stereotypical diet to a nutrition plan curated with indigenous foods.

Upon facing intense heart palpitations during his first days in Rwanda, Darkins realised it had been caused by poor nutrition which prompted him to try something different, thus leading into a more culturally traditional diet.

"When I cut the oil and started eating more natural foods, I noticed my energy was up, I was thinking clearer and my moods were less volatile, and it has given me more cultural awareness. My ideal meal today is something cooked out of a clay pot because clay has more nutrients and it doesn’t absorb them like regular steel pots. It enriches the food and amplifies its flavour,” he said.

Darkins founded Invictus Security Interests in 2017, specialising in surveillance security and serving as the chairman, and then moved to Rwanda in September 2022. Within the same organisation, the Invictus Foundation was established in February 2022. This foundation focuses on men’s mental health and aims to promote accessible mental healthcare for boys and men in Rwanda.

One of the things he has found challenging as a businessman in Rwanda despite the company’s progress is the subdued manner in which business is conducted.

"Business operates in a linear manner, and trying to mimic Western corporate dynamics isn’t always the way upwards,” said the father-of-two.

Darkins currently resides in Kimihurura and one of his favourite activities is the bimonthly car-free day. His skills in the local language are as impressive as it can get for a foreigner that hasn’t been practicing for long.