WASHINGTON, DC — National Association of Black Journalists President Bryan Monroe, vice president and editorial director of Ebony and Jet magazines, will be the first American media executive to speak from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly Hall, at the opening of the historic UN Global Youth Summit on Oct. 29.

NABJ, along with its Unity: Journalists of Color partners, has assembled 10 student journalists from around the nation to cover the first-ever United Nations Global Youth Leadership Summit, being held in New York City. During the summit, student delegates from 192 member nation's will convene at the UN headquarters to discuss how young people can help improve the societal issues that affect various regions of the world. Subjects to be examined include: poverty, literacy, race relations, malaria and HIV/AIDS.

Monroe will address the Summit delegates, as well as ambassadors and other dignitaries during the opening ceremony.

“The world around us is changing rapidly,” said NABJ President Monroe, “and now, more than ever, journalists of color — particularly young journalists — must be on the forefront in documenting and chronicling that change.”

The student journalism project participants, selected by the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA), will produce print, online and radio coverage of the event.

“This global gathering will allow our students to be more aware of multicultural issues,” said Djibril Diallo, co-chairman of the NABJ World Affairs Task Force and director of the UN’s New York Office of Sports for Development and Peace. “As journalists of color we are proud that they have the opportunity to break barriers that once seemed so high to us. These young people truly represent the future of their craft.”

The following students will cover the UN Global Youth Leadership Summit on behalf of UNITY:

Eba Hamid, Hampton University, NABJ
Mark Luckie, University of California-Berkeley, NABJ
Darren Sands, Emerson College, NABJ
Jennifer Jiggetts, Norfolk State University, NABJ
Sunie Redhouse, University of New Mexico, NAJA
Jessica Abeita, University of New Mexico, NAJA
Ko Im, University of Pennsylvania, AAJA
Iris Kuo, University of Texas-Dallas, AAJA
Javier Barrera, Hunter College-CUNY, NAHJ
Kara Andrade, University of California-Berkeley, NAHJ