On a recent Thursday, Derrick Blassingame directed a cable-access show for a minister friend in Over-the-Rhine.

As the minister preached on live TV, Blassingame guided camera crew members through delicate adjustments to their gear to correct color imbalances. A camera was knocked out of focus, but Blassingame kept it off the air until it was fixed.

Running up and down stairs, from control booth to studio, he sweated but kept his cool. Afterward, though embarrassed, he joked about the mistakes.

At 17, Blassingame is becoming a whiz at TV production, one of many high-tech areas the Avondale teenager is trying to master.

You may recognize Blassingame. In the past year he has produced, hosted and directed a five-month series of cable shows called Youth Speaks on Channel 24 in Hamilton County. Community leaders and local youth discuss issues from teen violence to low voter turnout.

He also hosts a similar call-in show on WAIF-FM (88.3) at 10 a.m. Tuesdays. Solutions and calm discussion, not raucous rhetoric, are his hallmark.

Two years ago, Blassingame wasn't this polished.

A self-described "hardcore militant," Blassingame, at 15, frequently spoke angrily at Cincinnati City Council meetings about police brutality and the disenfranchisement of black youth.

During the April 2001 unrest that followed the fatal police shooting of black youth Timothy Thomas, Blassingame marched with young protesters - and criticized older protest leaders.

"Our black leaders are not leading us," he said at the time. "Some of (them) just want their faces on TV."

His words made him a minor celebrity. He was interviewed on Larry King Live and a couple of nationally syndicated radio shows. He flew to youth summits around the country and keynoted a California Black Chamber of Commerce annual meeting.

"Out of a thousands of youth, he positioned himself as a voice. It takes courage and giftedness to do that," says the Rev. Damon Lynch III, leader of the Black United Front.

But as Blassingame met young people of other ethnicities, he began doubting that racism was the cause of all black people's problems.

In December, his older brother, Cortez, was killed by black car thieves. Blassingame began to "look at what black people are doing to black people," he says.

His focus shifted from race to taking personal responsibility for community problems.

Now Blassingame says he is "politically neutral." He calls the boycott of downtown Cincinnati businesses - which he used to support - a waste. He says President George W. Bush is a "great leader" for invading Iraq.

He still argues for reforming the juvenile justice system and for investing in neighborhoods.

But, as a senior at Cincinnati's Virtual High School, he's concentrating most on preparing for college, where he hopes to study law and politics.

"He's always been a wonder boy, always had opinions much older than his years," says Mary Anne Schultz, a mentor. "His gift is being a champion of causes."

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E-mail damos@enquirer.com or phone 768-8395