Young, Gifted and Black - Memphis Boy Shares Gift of Music

Skylar Lester keeps looking for new ways to express his gifts. So at camp this summer he decided to learn something new, expand his horizons, take on a new challenge. He volunteered to play the cymbals, which in Skylar's hands constitute a form of dramatic percussion. Skylar doesn't just play the cymbals, he performs them. When the cymbals are in his hands, he's not just in the band, he's leading the band. Read more from The Commercial Appeal story.

Young ,Gifted and Black - Leaders Issue Challenge At Convention

Money – power – respect – political power – all issues topping the agenda for Chicago’s 2006 National Hip Hop Political Convention. Leading the discussions are national and local artists, entertainers and political figures representing the hip hop generation and the civil rights era. Read more from The Chicago Defender.

Young, Gifted and Black - Nashville Students Gets Behinds the Scenes Look at City Government

Yasmin Porter, a rising senior at Antioch High School, sat with other Metro department representatives discussing transportation problems for the homeless. Yasmin is one of 28 students selected, out of 120 who applied, for the second year of the Metro Summer Internship Program. Read more from The Tennessean's story.

Young, Gifted and Black - South African Children Share Stories About The Impact of HIV/AIDS

A group of rural primary school children in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal Province are helping to break the silence about HIV/AIDS by recording their "autobiographies" for radio. A group of 10 pupils aged nine to 13 began participating in radio-training workshops in April last year. Read more from AllAfrica.com.

Young, Gifted and Black - Ethiopian Children Awarded in Painting Competition

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has awarded children who won a national painting competition with a view to encouraging them develop their creative potential. Read more about the winners from The Ethiopian Herald.

Young, Gifted and Black - Cleveland Youth Learning to Excel Despite Disappearing Sight

Llewellyn "Lew" Johnson is losing his sight. He has retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited eye disease that gradually narrows a person's field of vision from the periphery inward until there is nothing more to be seen. He remains optimistic about his life. Read The Cleveland Plain Dealer column about how a six-week program is helping him to navigate his new existence.

Young, Gifted and Black - Ohio Man Earns ESPY Award

Although some people may think of a life with no legs as a burden, Bobby Martin sees it as a blessing, giving him the opportunity to serve as a motivator. He recently earned an ESPY for Best Male Athlete with a Disability. Read more from BlackAmericaWeb's report.

Young, Gifted and Black - Baltimore Woman Excels in Boxing

Since taking on the sport three years ago, Franchon Crews -- a 5-foot-7, 165-pound middleweight -- has developed into one of the country's top female amateur fighters, racking up a 21-2 record. Read more from the Washington Post.

Young, Gifted and Black - Houston Man Earns Scholarship to Aid in Pharmacy Studies

Felton Charchere knows all about hard work. He managed to rank seventh in his class last school year while maintaining a pharmacy technician's job at a CVS drugstore. His efforts have earned him an achievement scholarship from the National Merit Scholarship Corp. Read more in The Houston Chronicle.

Young, Gifted and Black - St. Croix Youth Learn To Preserve Natural Resources

Sixteen teenagers will spend the summer learning the importance of preserving St. Croix's resources as part of the National Park Service summer youth program. Read more in The Virgin Islands Daily News report.

Young, Gifted and Black - Antiguan Students Study Journalism in U.S. Summer Program

The three Antiguan students Cleopatra Grant, Sharilyn Beazer and Elissa Edwards are taking courses in Media Writing and Introduction to Media Production through a summer scholarship program at Ithaca College in New York. Read more from The Antigua Sun.

Young, Gifted and Black - Somali Magazine Educates Youth about HIV/AIDS

In the self-declared republic of Somaliland, where discussions about sex remain taboo, a group of young people have been passing the HIV/AIDS message on to their peers through a youth-friendly magazine, Koor. Created in 2003, Koor provides basic information on HIV/AIDS to the youth, who in turn can use the knowledge to protect themselves from contracting the virus. Read more from allafrica.com's report.

Young, Gifted and Black - L.A. Students Achieve Success From Elder's Advice

African-American students at Reseda's Cleveland High School have benefitted from the influence and wisdom of African American faculty at Cleveland High through a program called The Village. It focuses on forging personal connections with students in a communal setting that epitomizes the African proverb "It takes a village to raise a child." Read more from The Los Angeles Times.

Young, Gifted and Black - New York Woman Shows Committment to Causes

Before Shadè Ogunleye stepped onto Columbia University’s campus to begin her freshman year last fall, the native Californian hadn’t given much thought to AIDS.
Then, she met her roomate who lost both of her parents to the virus. When she was crowned Miss Black New York 2006 in April, Ogunleye accepted the title championing AIDS awareness as her official platform.
Read more from The Amsterdam News' report.

Young, Gifted and Black - Philadelphia Man Begins Journey to Law

For incoming student of Drexel University School of Law’s inaugural class Raheem Watson said becoming one of 34 African Americans to be accepted into the school is an opportunity he and others can benefit from. Read more from The Philadelphia Tribune.

Young, Gifted and Black - Florida Man Aims to Change Negative Perceptions About Fatherlessness

Kharlief Legend is a new-generation "old head." When he isn't visiting kids at the jail, he is at the Big Dog's Cutz barbershop in Washington Shores, where he cuts hair and offers guidance. Read more from The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel's Report.

Young, Gifted and Black - Charlotte Student Named One of Nation's Best By Magazine

Donnarae'Wade was one of 35 students named by Ebony Magazine as the nation's top students. Read more from The Charlotte Observer.

Young, Gifted and Black - Rhymefest is One of Chicago's Many Talented Rappers

Rhymefest, born Che Smith 28 years ago on the South Side, tells The Chicago Tribune that local rap isn't a particular sound, but a "sensibility." Read more.

Young, Gifted and Black - U.K. Foundation Empowers Young Men

The From Boyhood to Manhood foundation in south London has been working to steer young black men on the right path for 10 years. Read more from The Guardian's report.

Young, Gifted and Black - Minneapolis Teen Has Olympic Dreams

Jamal James ,17, is one of the finest Golden Gloves boxers in the country, currently ranked third among 132-pounders. He hopes to become an Olympic boxer in 2008, then perhaps turn pro. Read more from The Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Young, Gifted and Black - Minneapolis Woman Wins Miss Black USA Crown

Celi Marie Dean is a top student, poet and a mentor students. Learn about her vision for her reign as Miss Black USA from this Minneapolis Star Tribune report.

Young, Gifted and Black - Caymanian Scholars to Represent in Global Leaders Conference

Arikka Ebanks, Jeremy O’Sullivan and Anthony Watler will represent the Cayman Islands in the Global Young Leaders Conference. Read more in the Caymanian Compass' story.

Young, Gifted and Black - Colorado Scholar-Athlete Named One of Nation's Best

Griffin Matthew was recently named 2005-06 female student-athletes of the year by The Denver Post, 9News and The Denver Athletic Club. Read all about it.

Young, Gifted and Black - St. Louis Students Participate in Civil Rights Tour

Participants in a three-week Civil Rights tour got a first-hand perspective o on the past from civil rights leadership in Birmingham. Read more from The Birmingham News' report.

Young, Gifted and Black - Memphis Teen Aims to Be a Cardiologist

Memphis Commerical Appeal profiles Brittanie Young in its One Great Kid series. Read all about her.

Young, Gifted and Black - California Teen Pilot Flying High

Jonathan Strickland, 14, recently became the youngest person in the world to fly solo in a fixed wing plane and a helicopter on the same day. Strickland is one of the students at Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum in Compton. Read more from the
Tuskegee Airmen's LA chapter's story.