Waveney Ann Moore: Putting the spotlight on ambitious Black youth

They aspire to medicine and entrepreneurship, flying for commercial airlines and helping children through a profession in social services.

They’re on the golf course, collecting donations for the homeless, playing basketball, on the National Honor Society and nurturing online business.

Black History Month properly recognizes the achievements and struggles of African Americans, but generally with a retrospective approach. These times, though, call for shifting attention to the future, to specifically acknowledge and nurture young Black people as they determinedly make their way under the oppressive shadow of racism.

In the past few days, I’ve talked to young people quietly pursuing their goals, normal kids with after-school jobs, studying, playing golf, volunteering and appreciative of the adults who love and inspire them and make sacrifices for them.

Toni Willie

Meet Toni Willie, a senior at Florida Atlantic University, who’s majoring in social work and minoring in French. She plans to go on to graduate school.

She spoke of liking to help people, a perfect fit for her desire to pursue a career in social services. “Definitely something to do with kids,” she said. “I am thinking right now that I want to work in the foster or the adoption agencies field.”

Toni, who has a part-time job in the university’s admissions office, is secretary of Florida Atlantic’s college chapter of the NAACP. Recently chapter members collected jackets and socks for a homeless shelter. They’ve raised money to support an organization focused on HIV/AIDS awareness. African Americans, Toni noted, have a high incidence of the virus. The chapter also disseminates information about voting and encourages young people to know their rights.

Her mother is her biggest supporter, Toni said. Barbara Brown didn’t finish college, but is making sure that Toni and her two brothers do, her daughter said. She’s told them, “The world is not going to hand anything to you.”

The St. Petersburg High School graduate said her mother holds down two jobs, one at Lawson’s Funeral Home. “She’s so good at it. She has a very giving and caring spirit … She’s really just shown me a lot of things about life that I really appreciate.”

This young woman of the post-civil rights era is not naïve about racism. It’s something that happens every day, she said, adding, “No reaction is always the best reaction in those cases.”

It’s yet another lesson learned from her mother, who has said, “The biggest comeback to that is to just walk away.”

Moms were definitely trending in the conversations I had with the young people I spoke with this week. Dominic Polk, Jr., an 11^th grader at Boca Ciega High School, said his mom motivates and inspires him most.

His goal is to fly commercial planes. On his 16^th birthday last June, he embarked on his first solo flight in a Cessna 172 from Albert Whited Airport. His parents, Dominic and Janika, sister Jaleah, a pharmacy student at Florida A&M, grandparents, an aunt and uncle and a few cousins were all on hand for the occasion.

“I was more proud than nervous,” Janika Polk said.

Last September, the St. Petersburg City Council acknowledged his achievement by presenting him with the Sunshine Ambassador Award. He had been nominated by Council Member Deborah Figgs-Sanders, who spoke of wanting to showcase positive images of African-American males.

Dominic hopes to take his private pilot check ride flight – which will determine whether he can qualify for a pilot certificate – this June, on his 17^th birthday.

“I am basically flying two days a week at Albert Whited,” he said. In a talk, he described his instructor, Matt Farren, as “the coolest guy you’ll ever meet.”

Dominic is also training to be a lifeguard for the summer and is a point guard for his school’s basketball team.

Last October, he met Tuskegee Airman Howard Carter. He shared “the amazing opportunity” during a Youth Sunday talk at Prayer Tower Church of God in Christ. 

“After leaving the meeting, I was inspired to continue my goal of becoming a pilot,” he told the congregation. “Airman Howard Carter did not have the opportunity to become a commercial pilot, because, during his time of flying, Black pilots were not able to fly commercial planes. My goal is to become one of the best commercial pilots ever.”

Ayanni Davis

Sixteen-year-old Ayanni Davis plans to break barriers of her own. Ayanni, who was inducted into the National Honor Society in January, spoke confidently about her aspirations. ”I want to go to college and I want to be an OBGYN and eventually, I would like to open my own practice,” she said.

It’s something she thoroughly researched and decided on in middle school. “When I read about this topic, I said, ‘This is what I want to be,’” she explained.

A student in Boca Ciega High School’s medical magnet program, she’s pinpointed the University of South Florida, FAMU and the University of Florida as her top choices for further study.

I asked her whether being Black poses any challenges. “I will say, certain professions, it’s harder for African Americans. There’s not many Black OBGYNs. I want to be able to show young Black kids in general that they can be and do what they want to do. I want to inspire people,” she said.

And her source of motivation? “My family is always telling me to keep going, keep trying, because if I give up, I’m not going to achieve what I want to achieve. And they tell me I can do whatever I want,”

Her mom, Morgan Roberts, and dad, Anthony Davis, are her heroes. “They are my number one support system,” she said. “Outside my family, a lot of my teachers. I look up to especially my medical teachers and also, I met a nurse when I volunteered at the hospital. She helped me put things in perspective.”

That was before the pandemic. She hopes to again volunteer at Bayfront Health.

Here’s what she wants people to know about her and other young Black people who are striving to succeed. “I want them to know that you can’t judge somebody based on what they look like,” she said. “Everybody can be the same, no matter what your skin color is, where you are from, what you do for a living. It doesn’t matter.”

Malachi McCloud

Malachi McCloud also has high goals. He’s set his sights on studying entrepreneurship in college, though he may already have a head start in the business world. He sells clothing that displays his own graphic designs from a website he’s also designed.

Malachi, who will celebrate his 18th birthday Sunday, launched his Dolo Society brand last summer. “I was really looking for something to do,” he said. “I really started out selling sneakers. Then I made a design and put it on a shirt.” 

He now sells T-shirts, sweaters and pullover jackets, his sister, Myshia Hill, said. “He has been doing really, really well with it.”

He wants to expand, but that’s only if he keeps his grades up, said Hill, 38, a regional director for an automotive group.

Last November, Malachi received a certificate for academic excellence from the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. His mother, Yolanda, got him involved in the mentoring program. 

The Boca Ciega 11^th grader is also active in Rock of Jesus Missionary Baptist Church, where the Rev. Frank Peterman, a former city council member, is pastor. He’s captain of the track team and captain of the golf team at his high school. He began golfing with the First Tee program when he was eight.

Donna Richter, a former First Tee volunteer, remembers Malachi well and was not surprised to learn of his accomplishments. “He’s certainly got those leadership capabilities,” she said. “He’s always been kind of quiet. You could tell he processes things. He thinks before he acts. He’s smart, polite, all those wonderful things that the First Tee tries to reinforce.”

It can be challenging being a young Black man, he acknowledged. “There is always a challenge out there, but it’s just how you overcome it,” he said.