Young, Black and Gifted - To All People Who Say You Are Too Young To Lead ...

One of the reason that I started my blog youngblackandgifted.blogspot.com is because there seems to always be someone saying what young people can't do or shouldn't be doing.

Please do not discourage greatness or limit it because I was not (or my peers) were not born before 1960! Ambassador Andrew Young was quoted yesterday saying that Barack Obama should not be president in 2008 because he is too young. See Errin Haine's story here.

What if they said that about Martin Luther King Jr? He accomplished a whole lot before 35 years old!

Below, I'll list a few great leaders and what they accomplished while they were young.These people are from diverse backgrounds.

1) Phyllis Wheatley published her FIRST POEM at six years old.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2p12.html

2) Aubyn Burnside founded Suitcases for Kids when she was 10 years old.
http://www.suitcasesforkids.org/history.htm

3) W.E.B. DuBois was one of the founders of the NAACP at 41 years old.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois

4. Dr. Ellen Ochoa became the first Hispanic American woman to fly in space at 35 years old.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/hispanic/ochoa.htm

5. Jerry Yang built the prototype for Yahoo at 28 years old.
http://goldsea.com/Profiles/100/yangjerry.html

6. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in 1955 in an act that led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott when she was 42 years old.
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0bio-1

7. Barack Obama is 46 years old.
http://www.barackobama.com/about/