For more than 40 years, Carl McCorkle has safeguarded children and families as they walk to school each morning. He has served as a lead crossing guard in the Watts area, supervising more than 20 other crossing guards and communicating with local schools on a weekly basis.
Ceata Lash went natural in 2006 and spent five years looking for styling tools that wouldn’t pull or break her curls. With no luck finding anything, she decided to make a product of her own. She created the PuffCuff, a styling tool that holds hair puffs in place without pulling on the scalp. It’s a big, non-elastic rounded clip that can be clamped around curly hair to hold it in place without tightening and pulling. The PuffCuff is clamped around gathered hair and with its comb-like bristles, curls expand into the clamp eliminating tension. It also comes in four different sizes for different hair lengths and puff sizes.
Growing up in Watts, Keith Corbin learned to cook from his grandmother. As a young adult, Corbin didn’t get the chance to build a career as life got the best of him and ended up spending 10 years in prison. After some setbacks due to his record, he was hired at Locol Watts, where within six months, he was the research and development chef of the restaurant and the director of operations. The owners of Locol, Daniel Patterson and Roy Choi, were very impressed with Corbin and gave him opportunities to work at their fine dining restaurants to get hands on experience on culinary development. This led to them partnering with Corbin to open Alta Adams, where Corbin is currently the executive chef. He is opening a restaurant, Louella’s Cali Soul, in early 2020 and will remain executive chef at Alta Adams.
Researchers discovered that between 1991 and 2017, there has been an increase in the number of African American teens who said they had attempted suicide in the past year. Freedom coach, lifestyle hacker, dating consultant, divorce guru, and author Cheron Griffin, felt she had to do something about it. She wrote her own book, “I SEE YOU: Igniting Hope & Preventing Suicide,” her own way. The book is helpful advice and encouragement anyone on the brink of suicide or self-harm can easily digest. Its text is punctuated by the three-syllable refrain, “I see you,” as its passionate, hopeful motif, and ends with the phone number for the National Suicide Hotline.
Eleven-year-old Christian Collins is one of 30,000 Americans who suffer from Cystic Fibrosis. People with the disease are expected on average to live 44 years, but Collins is already beating the odds. He is an athlete, he loves basketball. His biggest goal in life, he’s stated, is to inspire others; to make sure they know that anything is possible.
Artist and activist, Ise Lyfe aims to bring awareness to the juvenile justice system with art as his vehicle of choice. His exhibit highlights the ills within the juvenile justice system in hopes to charge California’s advocacy communities for national resistance against mass incarceration. It features over fifty current and formerly incarcerated people that were sentenced to adult terms before they were adults.
Jamaal Brown is the creator of Black 365, a daily calendar that highlights one Black fact per day. Brown is also the creator of The Knowledge Bowl, which is a Black History Teen Jeopardy, that has been held in various churches and schools throughout the Antelope Valley. The annual event is held in February during Black History Month. In the last decade, Brown said the Black 365 has grown tremendously. Brown was awarded a White House Volunteer Service Award in the field of Education by former President Obama /White House for providing knowledge Bowl’s to the community along with my Black History Presentations. Brown plans to eventually go statewide with the competition but right now he is working on bringing it to Los Angeles Unified School District.
Political activist and journalist, Jasmyne Cannick cares about the Black community and has proven that persistence is key. For the past couple of years, Cannick, the grieved families and others, have championed for justice for the deaths of two Black men, Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean. Both men died after fatal methamphetamine overdoses while in the company of political donator, Ed Buck. Even with evidence and testimony from others, Buck managed to elude justice. Cannick was unrelenting and unafraid to call out the police department, Ed Buck or the U.S. Attorney’s Office until justice was served. As a result, a federal grand jury has charged Buck with two counts of methamphetamine distribution resulting in death. If convicted, he could face a sentence of life in prison without parole. Cannick has proven with consistency and perseverance, one can accomplished great things.
Unable to find a single book on business-building aimed at young readers – let alone young readers of color for his son, Jason Harvey created Sammy Startup, a young Black boy who takes his ideas from the drawing board to the final product with the help of his business team of toys and stuffed animals: Melvyn the dinosaur, head of marketing; Hattie the owl, head of finance; Reggie the action figure, head of product development; and Daryn the cephalopod, sales manager. As Sammy’s ideas come to life, Harvey said, his toys come to life too. Harvey’s book’s message centers more on a childlike spirit of creativity and self-belief, as well as the value of dedication, careful planning and persistence in the face of challenge.
Jerome Stanislaus is a Brooklyn-born father of two, who dreamed of becoming a pilot, but never believed he would because he had never seen a Black pilot. After graduating high school, Stanislaus trained to become an aircraft mechanic in the Marine Corps. Later, he earned a degree in airport management and then went to work as a school teacher. Flying, however, remained his foremost passion and he signed up for flight lessons and, in 2015, Stanislaus took his first solo flight on a Piper Warrior II single-engine plane. He pilots friends, family members, and others from New York to Philadelphia. Despite the limited amount of African Americans in the cockpit, Stanislaus has stated now is the time for people of color to join the pilot ranks. While he doesn’t own a plane yet, Stanislaus said that it is a dream that will one day become a reality.
Illustrator, animator, videographer and comic book creator, Jerrell Conner uses an outside-the-box approach of edgy graphics to produce spectacular biblical content. Being a man of faith, Conner has devoted considerable energy to his graphic novel series, “Revelations: The Prophets,” along with the comics that he co-created, “Restoration” and “The Trials of Samson.” In addition, Conner has worked extensively in the arts and entertainment industry with clients such as EA Games, IMAX, Machinima, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Universal, MTV, Interscope Records, Reach Records, Starbucks, and Disney.
Clothing designer and entrepreneur, Karolyne Ashley creates custom evening wear at her company, Karolyne Ashley Atelier. She also serves on the board of the AU Diaspora African Forum based in Accra, Ghana, where she’s developing programming and collaborations that ultimately will be formed into camps, schools, and training platforms with a primary focus on building up young ones through the creative arts, entrepreneurship, and economic development. She also gave a kidney to her brother, who needed a transplant – something she called a simple act of obedience to God.
At 11-years-old, Lawrence Carpenter, a North Carolina native, fell into the street life and began selling drugs as a means of survival. By the age of 17, Carpenter was arrested for dealing and sentenced to six years. After being released, Carpenter started selling drugs again only this time, he was better than before. Nearly seven years later, he found himself behind bars for a second time. After serving 11 months, Carpenter decided that he wanted to turn his life around not just for him but for his family. Today, Carpenter is the owner of Superclean Professional Janitorial Services, where he has provided 19 years of commercial cleaning in the states of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Carpenter is also the co-owner of ZBS Trucking Company. He is also a community activist and participates in prison ministry through his church. Carpenter is also the director of the organization, Inmates to Entrepreneurs which creates sustainable career opportunities for former inmates through mentorship and by assisting them with launching their very own businesses.
ABC News Correspondent, author, and mother Linsey Davis children’s book titled, “One Big Heart: A Celebration of Being More Alike Than Different” aims to create bridges between youth. Inspired by her son’s life and growth, Davis began writing books as love letters and life lessons to her son, with an emphasis on creating characters that looked like him. Based on a foundation of love, Davis’s intentions to bring peace and inclusion are prominent within her books.
“Hair Love,” is an animated short showing the love between a Black father and daughter that was in theaters earlier this year. Matthew A. Cherry was inspired to write “Hair Love” about two years ago after seeing viral videos of Black fathers doing their daughter’s hair. “Hair Love” centers around a Black father, Stephen, and his daughter, Zuri. Stephen has long locks and Zuri has an afro which his wife usually styles. However, when mom is not available, Stephen has to figure out what to do. Along with the short film, Cherry’s Kickstarter campaign resulted in a book deal. “Hair Love,” the book, is a New York Times bestseller and available at Target, Walmart, Barnes & Noble, and on Kindle.
Samarea Johnson lost her father to cancer, and lived with her mother, who was on drugs, while dealing with bullying in school. Johnson didn’t find a stable place to live until she moved with her Godmother. The Antelope Valley High School graduate maintained a 3.8 GPA, is a track athlete, and one of five 2018 Beat the Odds scholarship recipients. The $10,000 scholarship was awarded to her during the Children’s Defense Fund-California’s (CDF-CA) 28th annual ceremony at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles on December 6, 2018. She plans to major in sports physical therapy and minor in business and social work. Johnson will be the first in her family to graduate from a four-year university.
Screenwriter, director and creator, Shequeta Smith brought fiction its first Black stand-alone superheroine in graphic novel series “Rayven Choi,” which tells a story about an African-American girl, orphaned and sent to South Korea in order to save her life. She has scripted television shows like the CW’s hit, “Everybody Hates Chris,” as well as reality shows, “VH1’s Flavor of Love” and “The Surreal Life.” Smith started Rayven Choi Films in 2008 to produce fun, smart, high concept projects, which is based in Los Angeles. Earlier this year, she launched SheroCon, a one-day, pop-up convention of female comic creators, cosplayers and local sheroes at Westfield Mall in Culver City.
L.A. County Library director, Skye Patrick, was named 2019 Librarian of the Year by the Library Journal. Since joining L.A. County Library, one of the largest library systems in the U.S., Patrick has focused on breaking down barriers and increasing access for all customers. She joined L.A. County Library in February 2016, with the goal to change and position the library as a center of learning accessible to all residents of Los Angeles County.
Sonja Herbert saw an opportunity to create a space that brought together Black women and Pilates. After teaching Pilates for 12 years and not seeing many Black women in that community, she decided to be the change she wanted to see. Mainly through the use of Facebook and Instagram, Herbert has created a network of 300+ of Black Pilates instructors, who network, mentor and provide each other with a source of support and inspiration. All instructors are either certified or are actively working toward certification. There are now two Facebook groups: one for instructors called Blackgirl Pilates (Instructors Only) and one for those looking for instructors called Black Girl Pilates Tribe.
At age 30, Sherrexcia Rolle serves as vice president of operations and general counsel of Western Air Limited, her family’s company and the largest privately-owned airline in the Bahamas. Western Air is a commercial airline that operates daily scheduled and on-demand flights to major destinations throughout the Bahamas, including Nassau, Grand Bahama, Exuma, Bimini, Abaco, and San Andros, also provides charter services to the Caribbean, Central and South America. She started as a baggage handler and worked her way up to vice president of operations, eventually orchestrating several strategic acquisitions for the airline – the first of which were two Saab 340A and a multi-aircraft deal with Embraer for the acquisition of three ERJ 145 LR 50-seater jets. Rolle also is training to become a pilot, having logged more than 44 flight hours.
Ashley Feazell founded the non-profit organization, Talented Tenth Publications, with the mission of educating underserved youth and increasing self-esteem through children’s Black history books. The “Talented Tenth: Historical and Present” book series are designed to inspire and remind youth of the endless possibilities they have in the world despite their upbringing and the adversity that lies ahead. Currently, the “Talented Tenth: Historical and Present” books covers a wide variety of content for children including prominent Black leaders, activists, entertainers, athletes, pioneers, educators, revolutionaries, and organizations. Some of the featured characters include Berry Gordy, Don Cornelius, Barack Obama, Russell Simmons, Oprah Winfrey, Madam C.J. Walker, and Cathy Hughes.
Devyn Nicole is the Los Angeles-based screenwriter, director and founder of Heroic Icon Entertainment (HIE) creating Black icons for the Black community in the comic industry. Nicole has high hopes and aspirations for HIE and the characters that will be born from her publication. She hopes to bring creators who will be as connected to their creations as she is to her comic character, Zara. Nicole has started The Everyone Can be a Hero Tour initiative, where she visits schools across the U.S. to teach students about the importance of self-affirmation and “unleashing their own superpowers.”
Eight-year-old Johana Harewood-Pope became one of the best judo competitors in her division in the entire country, after winning the 2018 Winter Nationals in December. In April of 2016, Harewood-Pope began practicing judo at a YMCA program in Santa Monica led by one of her coaches, Jim Nieto. Her passion for judo was ignited after learning her father practiced the sport. Soon after, she wanted to follow in his footsteps. Aside from judo, Harewood-Pope also holds a belt in jujitsu as part of her combined judo and jujitsu program.
