The Alan and Mary Jo Lincoln (ALMJ) Scholarship program, presented by Riverside Sales Group, LLC, awarded its 2024 first-place scholarship to Mr. David Allen. Mr. Allen graduated in June 2024 with a 3.3 GPA from University High School in Newark, NJ, and will attend Morehouse College in the fall. He received an award of $1,000 to support his studies.
This year, we received over 300 applications, a record number for the program. Applicants for the scholarship are graduating African American high school seniors who plan to attend college or trade school full-time. Applicants must have maintained a minimum 2.5 GPA and demonstrated leadership by engaging in school and community activities. Mr. and Mrs. Alan and Mary Jo Lincoln believe in supporting the educational advancement of future African-American leaders and are committed to alleviating part of the financial burden of college/trade school attendance.
David attended the Newark School of Global Studies before transferring to University High School as a junior. He committed himself fully to student leadership at both schools, serving as Sophomore Class President, Junior Student Council President, Black Student Union Founder and President, and Thurgood Marshall Law Academy President. David was also a member of the Mock Trial Club, Newark Anti-Violence Coalition, National Chinese Honor Society, and the National Honor Society. Additionally, he volunteered as a Chinese/ English Language Arts Tutor and worked as a part-time sous-chef.
Described by his teachers as a “gem” and charismatic intellectual”, David has earned numerous honors, including attending the Harvard University International Politics Summer Program and a Chalkbeat Student Writer Fellowship. His courageous activism in speaking out against racial tensions within his school garnered attention from the Newark School Superintendent and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, son of the late poet and activist, Amiri Barka. Subsequently, he received the Celebrating Black Resistance Award from Newark City Hall and served as a panelist on the Why Black and Brown Unity Matters panel in March 2023.
David’s career goal is to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Juris Doctorate to become a Criminal Defense Attorney and eventually be confirmed as a Federal Judge. We at Riverside Sales Group and Urban Media Today do not doubt that he will make that dream a reality. Congratulations, David!
Photo courtesy of Mr. David Allen
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Ms. Zoe Thompson will attend UCLA in the fall
For the first time since the AMJL scholarship inception, a second-place winner was selected for the 2024 award. Ms. Zoe Thompson graduated in May 2024 with a 4.0 GPA from Oak Park Independent School in Oak Park, CA, and will attend UCLA in the fall. She received a $500 award to support her studies.
Ms. Thompson’s commitment to her school and community is quite impressive. Her leadership roles included: Student Cultures Committee Founder and Student Chair, Black Literary Founder and Presenter, and Luc Strong 501(c)(3) Board Member and Outreach Ambassador. As a sophomore, her team’s Baking for a Cause campaign raised $174,000 for Leukemia research for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Additionally, Zoe was a member of Oak Park’s Varsity Dance Team and National Honors Society Executive Board. In 2022, she was awarded the Gold Coast Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Community
Service Award, and she served as a moderator for History Comes Alive, where she was recognized by JoAnn Allen Boyce of the Clinton 12, the first African American students who integrated into an all-white school in Clinton, Tennessee.
Like fellow recipient David Allen, Zoe boldly addressed her school board after a racist incident at her school and has served as the student representative of her district’s
Diversity and Equity Task Force since her freshman year. The following year, she joined the
Task Force subcommittee, Racial Healing and Restorative Justice.
Ms. Thomson plans to study and learn about diverse cultures to ensure proper representation of all cultures and create authentic stories within the film and television industry. She is well on her way! Congratulations, Zoe!
Photo courtesy of Ms. Zoe Thompson
