Now this is just amazing.

22 year-old Keenia Williams is a hero, ladies and gentlemen. While driving on a busy highway at 5am with her young daughter, Williams witnessed a big rig burst into flames. Noticing the driver of the truck lying unconscious mere feet from the burning truck, Williams sprang into action.

In an act of incredible bravery and selflessness, Williams left her daughter in the car, sprinted across spilled diesel fuel, and dragged the incapacitated driver to safety.

With images of Black poverty, suffering and violence flashing across our TV screens every single day, wouldn’t it be nice if these kinds of stories made the cut every once in a while?

According to Colorlines.com:

“‘I put my arms under his arms and I dragged him all the way to my car,’ Williams told the Chronicle. ‘He wasn’t talking or anything. He was just laying there.’ While they waited for emergency personnel to arrive, Williams splashed water on Finerty’s face until he regained consciousness.

San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White was impressed. ‘You left your daughter and, at a great risk to yourself, you saved a man’s life,’ she told Williams at a news conference following the accident. Hayes-White added: ‘Seconds count in an accident like this, and without your bravery, the situation would have been entirely different.’”

Read more on Keenia’s incredible story at Colorlines.com.

Truly unreal. How many of us can say we would have responded to such a horrify situation with this kind of courage and incisiveness?

Our media just loves to disseminate negative, stereotypical images of our community. Where is the media coverage for Keenia Williams?

The Black Youth Project salutes Keenia Williams for her selflessness and heroics. But we’d also like to salute the more modest acts of heroism in our communities every day.

Where are our strong, Black Mothers and Fathers, doctors and teachers, police officers and non-profit organizations? Where are our older brothers that walk their little sisters home from school every afternoon? And our big sisters that help their little brothers with their homework each night?

Send us your stories!

BYP is committed to shining a light on the strength, courage and resilience that has been central to the fabric of our communities since we were brought here 400 years ago.

We know who we are. And it’s about time we spoke for ourselves.