NAMES IN THE NEWS : Sinbad Offers Message of Hope

Comedian-actor Sinbad told 100 underprivileged youths they can succeed through hard work, confidence and a good education despite the negative influences of drugs and crime that surround them.

“A lot of you may not know how much you have to offer, how important you are,” the actor, who plays Walter on the TV series “A Different World,” said Thursday during a visit to the YMCA Youth Extension Center. “I’m here to tell you you can do anything you want to. But not if you’re dead or in jail.”

Sinbad, who was in town for a performance at the Midland Theater, said speaking in black communities was a way for him to give back some of what he has learned to youngsters in need of role models.

“There’s something happening in the community that is very tragic,” he said. “We have brothers killing brothers, right in our own neighborhood, and over what? Dope, drugs.”

He told the youths: “I don’t drink, and I don’t hide the fact that I don’t.”