Sharon 'Shay' Banks-Young

Shay Banks-Young, 71, left us on June 25, 2016, in the home of her son in Lansdale, PA. Shay was born September 3, 1944, in Columbus, OH to Frances Bernice Harris and Charles Sanford. She graduated from the Historic Central High School in 1962 and attended college at the Franklin University. Shay spent a large portion of her life being a radio and TV personality, poet and HIV/AIDS educator for the Red Cross in Columbus, Ohio. After genetic testing in 1998 established a connection between Madison Hemings's brother Eston and Thomas Jefferson, she went on the Oprah Winfrey show with her son and met Eston's descendants. Since then Shay travelled around the country bringing a discussion of racial issues, titled “A Conversation in Black and White,” to audiences around the country. Preceded in death by husband Curtis Young, parents Frances Bernice Harris and Charles Sanford, Brother Raymond Harris, and Nephew Carl Harris, Sr. Survived by her only child, Rev. W. Douglas Banks I (Tesemma); stepson Elder Michael Young, Sr. (Kellie), grandchildren, cousins and a host of friends. Shay spent her recent remaining years in the care and home of her son and his loving wife Tesemma.