Page 20 - Florida Sentinel 1-28-20

National News
Another Black Teen At Texas High School Ordered To Cut His Locs
Pasadena Police Department
A second teenager at a Texas high school has report- edly been suspended and given the ultimatum that he can’t return to class until he cuts his locs.
Kaden Bradford, 16, is a sophomore at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu and has been on suspension since last week, according to his mother, Cindy Brad- ford.
Kaden is the cousin of DeAndre Arnold, a senior at the school who we previ- ously reported was given the same ultimatum and even in- formed that he would not be able to graduate until he cuts his locs in compliance with the school’s dress code.
DeAndre’s father, who is from Trinidad, said men in
like DeAndre, her son wore locs for years in school and it only recently became an issue. Last year, Kaden wore a headband to keep his locs off of his shoulders. How- ever, his mother said the school told her that if Kaden kept his locs pulled back, he would not be in violation of its dress code.
According to Bradford, that all changed after the hol- iday break and claims the school’s principal, Rick Kana, told Kaden that he would need to cut his hair. The mother said she even had Kaden’s locs tightly braided so that they would lay flat against his scalp. Ap- parently, that wasn’t good enough for school adminis- trators.
Female Deputy Chief
KADEN BRADFORD
his family often grow locs be- cause it’s part of his identity and culture. Both mothers of the boys have refused to cut their son’s hair.
Bradford said in a Friday interview (January 24) that
PASADENA, Calif. -- The Pasadena Police Department has appointed the first female deputy chief in the depart- ment's more than 130-year history.
Cheryl Moody was hired as a police officer with the de- partment back in 1992 after serving in the United State Air Force and working for four years with the Long Beach Police Department.
In her new position, she will oversee the department's daily operations and special projects.
Moody will start her new role on February 17th.
CHERYL MOODY
Appoints Cheryl Moody As First
Black People Make Up More Than 50% Of U. S. Homeless Population, Study Finds
White Professor Called The Cops On Black Student Because He Wouldn’t Change Seats In Class
SCENE FROM THE CLASS
Black people in the U. S. are disproportionately im- pacted by homelessness, per an Annual Homeless Assess- ment Report released by the Housing and Urban Depart- ment. According to the re- port, blacks account for more than 50% of the country’s homeless population, despite making up only 13% of the U. S. population.
“African Americans have remained considerably over- represented among the homeless population com- pared to the U. S. popula- tion,” the report states. “African Americans ac- counted for 40% of all people experiencing homelessness in 2019 and 52% of people experiencing homelessness as members of families with children.
“In contrast, 48% of all people experiencing home-
lessness were white, com- pared with 77% of the U. S. population.” People identify- ing as Hispanic or Latino are bout “22% of the homeless population but only 18% of the populations overall.”
As of 2019, the U. S. homeless population swelled to 568,000, an increase of about 10,000 from the previ- ous year. In 2019, Roughly
35,000 of those experiencing unaccompanied homeless- ness were under the age of 25, a 4% decrease from 2018. The number of those experi- encing chronic homelessness increased by 9% between 2018 and 2019.
A staggering 52% of black families experience home- lessness, compared to 35% for white families.
A Ball State University stu- dent is upset with his school for its response to a professor who called the police after he refused to change seats in class.
The Muncie, Indiana school has reportedly imple- mented a corrective plan after professor Shaheen Borna, who is white, called university police on student Sultan “Mufasa” Benson for declining to change seats in class on Tuesday (January 21).
“This choice was a gross error of judgment, and it was simply an unwarranted over- reaction,” University Presi- dent Geoffrey S. Mearns said in an open letter on Thursday. "The classroom is a special place. It is a place of invigorated learning, and it
should always be a welcom- ing environment for all of our students. In the incident this week, we did not meet that important standard."
Two officers reportedly re- sponded to the call, however, the situation ended when Benson left the classroom voluntarily. He later told The Star Press that he feared po- lice would have injured or even killed him.
It's a "big issue, a huge issue" that the police were called, Benson said, because once they became involved the outcome "could have gone several different ways. I don't think they're getting the concept of that yet."
Borna has since apolo- gized for the severe lapse in judgement.
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