The Roland S. Martin Scholarship will aim to encourage Jack Yates High School students to pursue a higher education by awarding two $1,000 scholarships annually. One award is reserved for Yates High School seniors attending the School of Communications and the other award is open to all Yates High School seniors.

Applications are now closed for the 2020-2021 school year.

Roland S. Martin is a journalist, syndicated columnist, and author. Martin is the host and managing editor of #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the author of three books: Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith; Speak, Brother! A Black Man's View of America; and The First: President Barack Obama's Road to the White House as originally reported by Roland S. Martin. He has been named four times by Ebony Magazine as one of the 150 Most Influential African Americans in the United States and has been named several times to The Root 100, their annual list of influential African Americans.

In his career, Martin has been showered with more than 30 awards for journalistic excellence, including being named the Journalist of the Year in 2013 by the National Association of Black Journalists for his extensive focus on voter suppression and other issues of concern to African Americans during the 2012 election. He is a four-time NAACP Image Award winner, including being named Best Host.

Roland graduated from Jack Yates High School's School of Communications Program in 1987. He then went on to attend Texas A&M and earned a B.S. in Journalism. Roland has also earned a Masters degree in Christian Communications for Louisiana Baptist University.