Kamala Harris tells Florida teens to 'lead with conviction' at MLK Jr. event

The COVID-19 pandemic’s wrath in Florida has put a strain on families, had an outsized effect on Florida’s Black communities and forced schools to go virtual. Marked by interruption and uncertainty, young people had a particularly challenging 2020.

During a breakfast honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., the focus shifted toward a hopefully brighter future, awarding high school seniors with college scholarships upon completing Miami-Dade County’s 5000 Role Models of Excellence mentorship program. It’s designed to guide at-risk boys in grades K-12 along a path to attend college or other secondary education and lead them away from “a life of crime and violence,” according to the project’s website.

The 5000 Role Models’ 28th annual event, which was streamed online, awarded 45 students with scholarships named after the program’s founder, South Florida Congresswoman Frederica Wilson. Special guest Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, the first woman and first Black person to be elected to the office, gave a keynote address challenging the scholarship recipients to become role models in their own way, and to forge paths for themselves without fear of what others think.

“My fundamental belief is that each and every one of us has an extraordinary capacity of success and achievement. Each of us is full with extraordinary promise waiting to be unleashed,” Harris, who will be sworn in to office Wednesday, told scholarship winners “Some of us have more support and opportunities to unleash potential than others. ... None of us has achieved success without role models.”

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