Non-Sports Related Black Excellence

"Torrington Ford can’t legally drive a car, but he’s landed a plane. He could read and write before most kids his age knew how to spell their names. Thursday, he’ll graduate from Anne Arundel Community College — at age 15.

Before he heads off to Ohio State University in July, Torrington will be one of about 2,000 students to graduate from AACC this week — and indisputably the youngest. His college journey is three years in the making, more if you count from the day he jumped up and yelled at his mom in church."


The article notes that Ford plays every single sport...well. Mom could have easily encouraged his dedication to that instead of education. The result would probably look the same with some concussions added.


www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/ac-cn-torrington-ford-graduation-20180520-story.html?utm_source=kw&kwp_0=814693&kwp_4=2795800&kwp_1=1186888#track=bs_social__content-promotion__fb-ad_keywee_______cpa

It is nothing short of awe inspiring to be by his side, in person, to see and hear Simmons roll out his talents so effortlessly.

It comes from just 2 fingers on his right hand. One on the left.

That's all Darrius Simmons has to work with. A few fingers where his hands should be.

His hands never completely formed.

It's a birth defect that never crosses Simmons' mind when he's mastering the piano and turning out amazing music.

He all but dismisses the birth defect when I asked him about it, saying, "I really don't know that much about it, honestly."

That from a teen who since he was a kid, never asked "Why me?"

Darrius Simmons was too busy figuring out how.

How to translate the beautiful tapestry in his head into songs like his latest composition, "Dreams Never Die." No time to acquiesce to a "disability."

"I just looked at what people did and I just copied it. I found out my own way to work around it," Simmons says, matter-of-factly.

He's been working on "Dreams Never Die" since December.

He started composing his own music his freshman year when Korean pianist Yiruma invited Simmons to play with him at Carnegie Hall.




www.wkyc.com/amp/article?section=features&headline=talented-teen-pianist-born-without-hands-goes-viral&contentId=95-550658722

It wasn't a thread. It was a comment within a thread. I've posted a dead link a time or two so I'm not placing spreading false things you've read and believe to be true AND sharing your own questionable opinion in the same box. I don't think they are the same. And clearly by her response she stands by what she said. I'll keep posting examples of black people making it without a ball in their hand. It happens. A lot.

afropunk.com/2018/03/nigerian-american-author-got-7-figure-deal-adult-fantasy-book-movie/


www.hollywoodreporter.com/amp/bookmark/ya-author-tomi-adeyemi-black-directors-black-panther-her-7-figure-book-deal-1090465



"Huge shout out to author Tomi Adeyemi, the Nigerian-American author whose critically acclaimed debut YA novel, ‘Children of Blood and Bone’ has landed the writer a seven-figure book and movie deal with Fox 2000! Described as a Black Lives Matter-inspired fantasy novel, ‘Children of Blood and Bone’ is a melding of contemporary issues and West African mythology. Set in the fictionalized Orïsha, the novel follows Zélie Adebola, a younger girl who sells fish with her father and a diviner with magic powers that transform her into a maji. When the King of Orïsha orders for all who posses black magic to be killed, and with the help of the princess, who is in possession of one of the last maji scrolls, Zélie endeavors to bring the magic back."

www.ajc.com/news/world/these-metro-atlanta-triplets-just-graduated-summa-cum-laude-from-high-school/zJzZTo6V2A0oDxsVw5M8EM/amp.html



Kolby, Sydney and Kendall Belcher all graduated summa cum laude last month from Ola High School in McDonough, Georgia. They each earned 4.0 GPAs.

The Henry County siblings were also dual enrolled in college while attending high school, so they’ll commence their freshman year of college with a ton of credits.


“I’m very happy and proud of them,” their mother Cathey Belcher told the Henry Herald.

The kids began their education as early as age 3 with both their parents teaching them reading and writing.

“They took off from there,” their mom explained. “They knew they were expected to do their best and never settle for a B or C grade when they could get an A.”



leftturnonly Hope you are well! Check these out!

Daughter of Ernest Green:


MG: I think the interesting thing is how the trials of now have created a potential for the next generation of great thought leaders and activists to step into their own.

EG: I always saw it as a very long-term situation. If those who had some opportunity to influence the opinions of other students [at Little Rock Central High] had spoken up a little more, it probably wouldn’t have been as tough a year for us as it turned out to be. I think we’re going to experience this for some while, that the pioneers are the ones who have to create the road and the path and all that.

www.splcenter.org/news/2018/05/27/growing-child-little-rock-nine

Jay Morris grew up poor and spent time in prison, looks like he may be the first to champion another all black community:




It's a new investing idea that promises a big payout. A new black owned and operated real estate crowd fund just launched in Atlanta.

The idea is to re-invest in urban communities.

It’s named after a cluster of black owned businesses in Tulsa, Oklahoma known as Black Wall Street which was burned down in the 1920's.

Jay Morrision and his partner Ernestine Johnson want to use the spirit of that history to give people control in their communities. Their solution is the Tulsa Real Estate Fund.




amp.cbs46.com/story/38381730/real-estate-crowd-fund-launches-in-atlanta

Ursula Burns:


leanin.org/stories/ursula-burns

I was raised by a wonderful mother in the rough and tumble public housing projects on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Many people told me I had three strikes against me: I was black. I was a girl. And I was poor.

Daymond John Shark Tank and FUBU founder


Daymond John always wanted to be an entrepreneur.
"As a young kid growing up, I was always trying to sell something," John told CNNMoney. "Whether it was pencils in school ... Super Soakers on the beach. I was always selling something."

At the age of 17, John decided to buy wrecked cars, rebuild them and sell the restored vehicles. After that, he started a commuter van line. But he wasn't passionate about either venture, and they fizzled out. When he was 20, he decided to turn his love of hip hop and fashion into the business that would help make him famous — the hip hop apparel company Fubu.
Fubu had a few false starts. John recalled opening and closing the business three times between 1989 and 1992 because he lost money. But his love of the company always drew him back in.
"People would say, 'Hey, I remember you. I bought a shirt from you last year ... Where can I find it again?' And I was happy to hear that," John said.


money.cnn.com/2018/05/22/news/companies/daymond-john-rebound/index.html

Kenneth Frazier CEO Merk:


The exchange is striking, not just because it’s an unprecedented Twitter flame war between a president and a sitting CEO, but also because Frazier is one of only a handful of African-Americans who run major for-profit companies. But it’s also not a surprise to anyone who has followed Frazier’s career: he has record of taking moral stands and engaging in big fights. Case in point: In his early days working as a Merck lawyer and as the company’s head of public affairs, he defended a man on death row who was eventually released.

Frazier grew up in inner city Philadelphia. His father was a janitor with a limited education and, Frazier says, “one of the most intelligent men I’ve met in my life.” Frazier’s father devoured two newspapers a day and, later on, his three kids’ college textbooks.




www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2017/08/14/what-you-should-know-about-ken-frazier-the-ceo-who-just-resigned-from-trumps-council/amp/