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Meet The 16-Year-Old From Compton Who Just Became The Youngest Black Pilot To Fly Around The U.S.

16-year-old Isaiah Cooper from Compton has become the youngest black pilot to fly around the United States.

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Isaiah Cooper : Meet The 16-Year-Old From Compton Who Just Became The Youngest Black Pilot To Fly Around The U.S.
Isaiah Cooper

16-year-old Isaiah Cooper has become the youngest black pilot to fly around the United States. The teen from Compton, CA made history when he landed in his hometown on Monday, July 18 after a 8,000-mile flight flying from California to Maine, Washington, Florida and back to Compton-Woodley Airport.

Isaiah Cooper

Just two days into his two-week journey, however, Cooper called his flight instructor and mentor Robin Petgrave to tell him he was ready to give up, according to NBC LA.

“It was terrifying. I was really scared, I wanted to give up and go home,” Cooper told Mic. “But having conversations with Robin and other people, it calmed my nerves and I continued on with the trip.”

He encountered bad weather while in Wyoming which damaged his original plane and forced him to make an emergency landing and switch planes.

Petgrove commended Cooper for overcoming and finishing his flight.

“It’s kinda cool when you see a kid that comes to you with this idea and this dream and then you help them to realize it,” Petgrave told Mic. “Especially when you have your setbacks like he did when Mother Nature challenged him and he had to execute emergency procedures.”

Cooper’s recent voyage is just the start for the teen. Next year after his 18th birthday, Cooper says he plans on becoming the youngest pilot to make a solo flight around the world, a record currently held by Matt Guthmiller who made the trip when he was 19.

The teen started a GoFundMe page to help fund his around-the-world trip. His goal is to raise $45,000.

He also notes, on his fundraising page, that he enrolled in an aviation youth program at

Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum, an organization that gives at-risk youth the opportunity to become pilots, when he was 5 years old. He admitted that he dropped out and fell into the wrong crowd during his early years of adolescence, but returned thanks to the help of Petgrave.

Isaiah Cooper wrote that his goal is “to become a productive young man with a future in aviation, and not a statistic.”


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Unheard Voices is an award-winning news magazine that started in 2004 as a local Black newsletter in the Asbury Park, Neptune, and Long Branch, NJ areas to now broaden into a recognized Black online media outlet. They are the recipient of the NAACP Unsung Hero Award and CV Magazine's Innovator Award for Best Social Justice Communications Company.

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9-year-old cancer survivor killed in tragic school bus accident

A family is in mourning after a 9-year-old cancer survivor was tragically killed in an accident in Orlando.

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9-year-old cancer survivor killed by school bus Elyas Amyr Marshall-Rodriguez
Elyas Amyr Marshall-Rodriguez (Photo Source: GoFundMe)

A family is in mourning after a 9-year-old cancer survivor was tragically killed in an accident in Orlando, Florida.

9-year-old cancer survivor tragically killed

Elyas Amyr Marshall-Rodriguez got off the bus Tuesday afternoon and, as he was walking away from the bus, he dropped his football when he crawled under the bus to get it and the vehicle began moving.

Marshall-Rodriguez was in remission for leukemia when he was killed on Tuesday after being diagnosed at 2-years-old, according to his family who spoke at his vigil.

He loved life

“He was the life of the party,” said Trenae Gayle, Marshall-Rodriguez’ cousin. “He loved football; he loved basketball. He loved all sports.”

The family has set up a GoFundMe.

The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the incident and the investigation is currently ongoing.


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Hero teen saves baby whose parents were electrocuted by downed power line in Portland ice storm

A teenager in Oregon is being hailed a hero for putting herself in danger to help save the life of a 9-month-old baby.

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Oregon teenager saves baby
Photo by Jonathan Petersson

A teenager in Oregon is being hailed a hero for putting herself in danger to help save the life of a 9-month-old baby.

Oregon teenager saves baby

Majiah Washington, 18, of Portland, said she was inside her home on Wednesday when she saw a flash outside her window.

Washington said after looking outside, she saw a car with a downed power line on top of it, and man and a woman who had been trying to put their child in the car.

Oregon teenager saves baby Majiah Washington

Majiah Washington (Video Screenshot)

“The baby’s mom was yelling to the man, ‘Take my baby out of the car. Take my baby out of the car,'” Washington recalled at a press conference Thursday at the headquarters of Portland Fire & Rescue.

Intense rescue

Washington witnessed the infant’s father attempt to walk up an icy hill with the child, before slipping and falling backwards. The mother attempted the same, followed by another person, who all were unfortunately electrocuted.

Washington ran outside and called 911. When she saw the baby’s head move, she sprung into action. Despite what she had just witnessed and the dangers, she said she walked on the driveway to reach the baby.

Majiah Washington was heroic

Portland Fire and Rescue spokesman Rick Graves described Washington’s efforts as “heroic.”

“We do have fortunately with us a [child] that is going to be able to thrive and do what they possibly can as they move forward,” Graves said Thursday. “And they are here, in part, because of the heroic acts of a member of our community.”


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Burger King worker who went viral after receiving gift bag is now a homeowner

The Burger King worker, who went viral after showing off the flimsy gift from his employer for 27 years of service, is now a homeowner.

k covin

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Burger King worker homeowner Kevin Ford
Kevin Ford (Photo Source: GoFundMe)

The Burger King worker, who went viral after showing off the flimsy gift from his employer for 27 years of service, is now a homeowner thanks to the donations of people who were moved by his story.

Anniversary Gift bag

Back in 2022, Nevada Burger King employee Kevin Ford posted a photo of the anniversary gift bag that contained a Starbucks cup, a single movie ticket and a bag of Reese’s Pieces.His intention wasn’t to mock the bag.

“I wasn’t upset at all. I was grateful,” he said.

However, after 30 years of working and perfect attendance, the internet felt he deserved more.

When Ford’s daughter saw the video surge on social media, she started a GoFundMe page – just to raise $200 for her dad to come visit his grandchildren in Texas.

But the internet suprised them, with the fund collecting much more.

Burger King worker Kevin Ford is a homeowner

The page has now raised more than $450,000 in donations, including $5,000 from comedian David Spade.

“It’s an absolute beautiful miracle of what has happened,” Ford said to KABC.

Thanks to those donations, Ford recently moved into a new home. Of course, near his Burger King.

“When they tell you there is no hope for humanity in the world, don’t believe them… Hold me up as an example because people are beautiful,” he said.


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