Next time you think about giving up, remember Cory Carter. Carter grew up in over 26 foster homes. And yet Carter has graduated from college, has a good job, lives in his first apartment and finally–just last year at the age of 26, he was adopted. “I have no recollection of being with my birth […]
Nathaniel B. White Jr. stepped into history simply by going to college. With little fanfare, he became part of a group now called the “First Five,” the first Black students to attend Duke University. It was 1963. Blacks were marching in Birmingham, demanding public facilities be integrated. When violence erupted, President Kennedy sent 3,000 troops […]
The message James V. Page posted on Facebook on his wife’s 50th birthday said in part: We have been in the U.S. Navy together; homeless together; broke with no money or food together; bought our first home together, watched all five of our children get their college degree’s together; Gave up on each other together; […]
Carolyn Lund has seen hesitant boys who believe the harp is a sissy instrument, pluck a string and fall in love with what their hands can do. Under her tutorage boys and girls who have never heard or seen a harp proudly perform to packed auditoriums. As director of the Urban Youth Harp Ensemble, Lund […]
Jamal Paddie rides four buses a day to get to his classes at Bowie State University in Maryland. In some ways, it is the smallest challenge he has had to overcome on the road to success. Raised in a tough, predominantly Latino neighborhood in Hyattsville, Maryland, Paddie has been a fighter nearly all his life. […]
Stressing “kindness creates kindness, generosity creates generosity and love creates love”, a 51-year-old California law school professor has turned over the keys of his own home to a struggling, single mother of four in hopes his act of selflessness will put the family on a path toward a more secure and stable life of their […]
Mignon Francois wanted to help her husband lift their family out of debt. The couple and their six children were living in two rooms of a condemned house they were rehabbing in Nashville. The water and electricity were turned off regularly for nonpayment and dinner was often Ramen noodles. Francois said her husband “looked gray […]
See “Survivors of Abuse” photo gallery below. Left to die in a car with two gunshot wounds to the head and one in the arm, Stephanie Powe refused to take her last breath. She miraculously dialed the car phone and told a friend, “I’m not playing. I’ve been shot two times in the head…” She […]
Her grandmother is a retired educator, her great aunt has toured the world as a model, and her great-uncle is a nationally known motivational speaker, who once netted 116 points in a pro basketball game, in Germany. But at age 10, Jayani Livingston is considered the genius in her accomplished family. In 2011, the student […]
Shannon Smith's story not typical. After moving cross-country in 2006 to explore new opportunities, the young woman seemed to have it all. In 2008, she became the mother of a son and soon became a pharmaceutical technician. And in 2010, Smith discovered her family would be expanding. She was expecting her second son. On December […]
Darren Vincent was 30 years old before he read his first book. His tough neighborhood in Niagara Falls, N.Y. offered enough real stories to keep him focused on just trying to survive. He was a young man filled with rage who fought other young men every chance he got. “I was a hard-headed, young, black […]
Sandra Walsh has had breast cancer twice. The first time was in 2005. The news left her breathless with disbelief. She was an active mom with a husband and three daughters, 11, 8 and 5. She worked as a mortgage agent and ran five miles a day. In retrospect, Walsh, who lives in Gwinnett, Ga., […]
