Black history month: Celebrating some amazing Bay Area youth

OAKLAND, Calif. - Black history month aims to pay tribute to African Americans, and is a chance to educate the public about championing and cheering on members of the Black community.

KTVU is highlighting some amazing Bay Area youth during February, from poets to weightlifters.

Here are some of their stories and passions. 

If you know of someone who lives in the Bay Area and is 18 or younger, email ktvuwebproducers@fox.com before Feb. 28. 

Maya Raveneau-Bey, 17, Oakland poet youth laureate finalist in 2023 and 2024

What she's passionate about: "Poetry and spoken word is a powerful medicine for me," she said. "I use these freeing forms of literacy as an outlet for my moments of overstimulation, anger, and confusion."

Maya said is a blend of Moorish-American, Cherokee, and Black Foot Indian, and she focuses her poetry on the treatment and trauma of African-Americans in America and the realities of life for a young girl whose complexion serves as a direct detriment to the course of her life. 

She said she wants to move into the film industry and incorporate poetry within my screenwriting and visual storytelling.

Legend Gabourel, 8, Oakland weightlifter

In November 2024, Legend was the youngest of 70 athletes who competed in the Olympic weightlifting meet called the "Rite of Passage," which was sponsored by the Speed Power & Strength gym on Livingston Street in Oakland. 

More recently, he won a local weightlifting competition in Menlo Park, winning first place in his age category.

Based on that competition, his Speed Power Strength coach Michael Jenkins said, for this year, he is ranked second in the country for all under-13 boys in his weight class in USA Weightlifting. 

What he's passionate about: Legend said his older brother, who is also a weightlifter, inspired him to start. 

Legend told KTVU that he wants to be the "strongest kid in the world." 

Zarahana "Zara" Kargbo, 18, Oakland visual artist 

"My passion for art started in my art class," Zara said. "I've always loved coloring with colored pencils, crayons, you know, all the little kids did that."

She also loves acrylic paints, charcoal, ink, pencil, and mixed mediums and focusing on facial features and a person's expressions. 

Her art also is centered around the African diaspora, as well as Black hair.

"My mom's a hairstylist," she said. "I grew up in a salon, so braids and cultural hairstyles are really significant to me, things that kind of separate us from others. I like to focus on the beauty of Black women."

Zara is an award recipient of the 2023 Bay Area Creative Foundation in the Creative Youth category for her zebra-hybrid self-portrait painting. Her paintings were shown at the Museum of the African Diaspora as well as the Joyce Gordon Gallery. 

Reyhana ‘Rey’ Shephard, 17, Oakland fashion designer 

What she's passionate about: Reyhana is heavily influenced by culture, storytelling and architecture. 

"What inspires me a lot is my history and my heritage," she said. "I'm Nigerian and I like to include that a lot in my fashion."

Her grandfather often gets textiles in Nigeria for her; she recently designed a sweater with green Nigerian fabric. 

Rey focuses on using fashion as a "vessel for expression, transformation and empowerment." To that end, she often blends elements from various cultures, eras and personal histories.

"Fashion allows me to narrate these stories visually," she said, "using clothing and accessories to explore who we are and how we want to be seen. 

Ayo Brame, 17, Oakland saxophonist

What he's passionate about: Ayo is passionate about jazz. 

That's probably because he was literally born to the sounds of "A Love Supreme" by John Coltrane, a song his father had put on during his birth.

"I want the world to hear me play saxophone," he said.  "jazz music is unlike any other genre of music. It is unpredictable and improvisational, but like many other genres, it’s a Black American art form. It allows me to express my ways of creativity and find my own voice."

Ayo specifically loves the sax because it "can convey wide range of emotions and moods. It's smooth and soulful with a sound that makes me happy every time I hear it, and I like the discipline required to completely familiarize yourself with it to truly tap in to your ability to create music." 

He practices an hour or two a day, and studies with Richard Howell and aims to channel the jazz greats including the late John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter.

"When I play, it makes me feel like I have a vessel of expression and it just feels really free and I don't know how to explain it," he said. "It's unexplainable. It's really cool feeling."

He's traveled the world, playing music in the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico and all across the United States. He plans to tour Hong Kong and China in March, and play at Yoshi's in Oakland on April 25, on his 18th birthday. Ticket information is here.  

Ayo also plays clarinet, bass guitar and drums. 

Shayanna Love Jr., 8, Dublin volunteer 

What she's passionate about: Shayanna is passionate about giving back to her community.

The Frederiksen Elementary School student collected toys and winter essentials at her school to give to her mother's clients, who had just given birth. 

Since her mother is a Doula, Shayanna also helps with collecting and sorting baby, maternity, and postpartum items to give to families in need throughout the year. 

"I help my mom and I help her helping people in need and a lot of stuff," Shayanna said. "It makes me feel good. It makes me feel grateful." 

Malachi "Malye" Ray, 18, San Leandro hip hop artist

What he's passionate about: Malye loves to push creative boundaries, blending hard-hitting drums with rock and emo to craft a sound that he says is both "raw and emotionally charged." 

He is also a filmmaker and a fashion designer. 

He said he is inspired to speak about youth and mental health. 

Stefon Johnson, 18, Oakland model and singer

What he's passionate about: Stefon has been modeling and singing from a young age. 

"I started when I was 2 years old," he said, "and it was like right after Michael Jackson passed away. I was fascinated by his his moves and dancing. And I started doing shows. And with that, I started getting into modeling."

Singing is a way to transport him to another place and help him deal with his emotions. 

"My dad has been incarcerated since I was a baby," he said. "And I was raised by a single parent with just my mom and my grandma."

Singing, he said, is a way for him to "express myself and and deal with stuff." 

Kai Neal, 18, San Leandro DJ, sound engineer, producer 

What he's passionate about: Kai loves hip hop, old and new. 

He was raised on ‘80s and ’90s hip hop like Run DMC and Snoop Dog, but he loves neo Soul too. "My music is very expansive," he said.

He deejays all sorts of events, from school functions to corporate gatherings. He prides himself on being culturally astute. He recently worked at a predominantly Latino event and played music, like Bad Bunny, to please the crowd. 

"I have to be educated and up to date on the music that I play because that's literally my job, so I mix every single type of song," he said. 

When Kai writes his own music, he says he tries to raise consciousness because that's how he was raised. 

"I fool people into learning in some sense," he said. 

Jordan Lewis, 18, singer, rapper, songwriter, DJ and dancer 

What he's passionate about: Jordan grew up in West Oakland and describes his surroundings as pretty tough. 

Now, he's a singer, rapper, songwriter, DJ and dancer. 

Music, he said, helped him navigate. 

"I've seen a lot of people that kind of almost seem like a product of their environment," he said. "And I've always learned how to be different. I was always different than everybody around me."

He credits many women in his life for his journey: His mom, sisters and girlfriends.

"My music is a jaza-inspired album,"  he said of "Sincerely Blues." "It's really about my perspective on love." 
 

Black History Month