“If I’m pitching [and] they see my fastball, they get kind of scared [and] I just strike ‘em out…”

-Davis, after her six-strikeout, complete game

Those words, spoken by the Anderson (Philadelphia, PA) Monarchs pitcher, came deliberate and direct to reporters. Her hair flies over her left arm while the right uncorks fastballs at 70 mph, faster than her male counterparts expect, given her slight, 85-pound frame, to be sure. How awesome are the quotes? How awesome is that glare of hers under that blue cap? How oblivious does she seem to the fact that she’s only the 17th girl to compete in the Finals in the 68-year history of the Little League World Series? Super awesome.

I know they lost Sunday, but did you see this from Thursday night’s LLWS matchup between Jackie Robinson West (Chicago, IL) and Lynnwood Pacific (Lynnwood, WA)?

How cool is that kid and how cool is that team? Look at that kid; most of his fan base isn’t even at the game. Easy to imagine a large part of that 12-2 Illinois win were attributed to a couple dozen rollover minutes on the team bus. Can’t you picture Trey hitting a two-run blast and circling the bases while winking at the girls in the stands like Antoine Tyler in The Sixth Man? And seriously, how COOL is that?

What about him? Have you heard about this guy?

Dr. Raymond Burse, President of Kentucky State University, was curious about the number of employees working for below minimum wages. After discovering there were quite a few not making a livable income, he decided to help out in the best way possible: by donating $90,000 of his own $349,869 annual salary to assist in increasing their pay. Even better? This man is President on an interim basis. His tenure- and that $300,000+ salary- is only expected to last 12 months. The University has also left the door open to explore possibilities to continue this upward trend. The best may be yet to come for these underpaid workers.

Hey, what about this?

Dan Davis, a Detroit lifer, took what was one of many empty lots in his hometown and turned it into an area for neighborhood kids to enjoy themselves. In a city facing mass departure, economic and political failings, and overall terribleness, this man is creating a sliver of hope. It may be minimal in the grand scheme of things, but change is neither rapid nor completely quantifiable. Hope, however, is limitless and spurring.

Oh, I came across this lady, as well:

She is Dr. Sheena C. Howard and she is a recipient of the 2014 Eisner Award, one of the highest honors in the comic book industry. She, along with co-editor Ronald Jackson, was awarded Best Scholarly/Academic Work for their book, Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation at Comic Con in San Diego this past July. Although the Eisner is considered The Oscar of the Comic world, you could argue that isn’t the most impressive recognition she has received. Her dissertation (which, I am sad to say, I could not locate) garnered much acclaim as well, including the 2010 Doctoral Dissertation Award from the National Communication Association. She is a champion of geeks and intellectuals alike, and apparently, they DO make some awards for that. Trophies…

Here’s something pretty interesting…

826 National is a nonprofit organization that seeks to help students of all grade-school ages with expository and creative writing. Since its formation in 2002, the organization now includes eight locations across the United States. Each location contains a tutoring area, as well as a storefront that contains items as varied as the storefronts themselves. For example, their Ann Arbor location boasts a Robot Supply and Repair area and sells items such as RoboPandas and Positronic Brains. Their mission is to provide as much one-on-one attention as possible to these grade schoolers in a hope to nurture and support unique thought. Numbers don’t lie and thus far, 826 has served over 24,000 young people and published over 900 literary works with the kids serving as the main authors. Pretty dope, right? Interestingly enough, the late Robin Williams provided the forward for their latest publication, Home Wasn’t Built in a Day. Bittersweet, of course, but really dope in whole. In 2013, the Library of Congress presented 826 CEO Gerald Richards the American Literacy Award for these innovative and inspiring efforts. Teaching kids to read is awesome; however, teaching them to also create is overlooked many times in that process. 826 gets it, nails it, and looks super dope doing it.

There are probably so many other stories similar to these. That’s kind of the awesome thing about life. Negativity can permeate so much of our lives even if we try our best to ignore it. Maybe these people are just little packets of instances that make us smile before we tuck them away into our fleeting consciousness. But they were little packets of instances that made us smile. Never forget that.

A.J. Armstrong is the Creator of the Fly Hobo and His World of Oddities. He also wants to acknowledge and give special consideration to The Detroit Free Press, The Library of Congress’ website, loc.gov, and ESPN.com. Humanity is alive and well. He would also like to give a special thank you to the creators of Good Black News. Check them out and maybe bookmark them below your CNN news page.