Page 25 - Florida Sentinel 3-31-17

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Teacher Writes Song To Inspire Her Students To ‘Love Their Looks’
Florida Man Kills Girlfriend; Shoots 5 Others, Including Her 2 Sons
BOSTON, MA —- If you’ve ever been to school, you’ve heard it: students teasing one another for the most inane things. Stupid though it all may be, those words are hurtful and easily internalized.
Now, you might remember some kids teasing others for having dark skin, or for having light skin, or for not having a perm or having braids. You might think in today’s more woke world that all that’s in the past.
Well. It’s not.
Lovely Hoffman, a teacher
at Boston’s Helen Y. Davis Leadership Academy, noticed comments about their looks were beginning to take a nega- tive toll on the young girls she teaches.
Hoffman told the Boston Globe that she faced similar slights as a young woman, being told that she didn’t have “the right look” to be a singer and that as “the only dark girl” in her singing group, she “was always made very aware that I was different.”
She admitted, “That stayed with me for a while.
Lovely Hoffman with some of her students at Helen Davis Lead- ership Academy.
“ Throughout high school and throughout college, always questioning whether or not I had the look to be an artist, to be a singer.”
Determined to do all she could to ensure her students weren’t racked by the same self-doubt she had been,
Hoffman took her talents and wrote a song called “My Black Is Beautiful” to encour- age them.
The song features Hoff- man’s students, and is full of body positivity, celebrating the full spectrum of black appear- ance. The song works through
common points for ridicule with lines like, “look at her size, look at her weight, she is too curvy, she is too slim, or even too thin” and “look at her face, look at her skin, it’s either too dark or it’s too light, her com- plexion’s not right,” before af- firming with its chorus, “my black is beautiful.”
Students say Hoffman’s song couldn’t have come at a better time. One, 14-year-old Michayia Howard, was re- cently told by a classmate, “I don’t like dark skins or brown skins ... I would only choose white skins.”
Students Fight To Keep School From Erasing Their #BlackLivesMatter Article Out Of Yearbook
VACAVILLE, CA —The au- dacity of black girls has reached peak levels in these global streets.
Such was the case when Vanessa Mewborn and Ari- ana Coleman, students at Buckingham Charter Magnet School in Vacaville, California, decided to include an article about the Black Lives Matter movement for their high school yearbook.
Over several months, the two yearbook staff members con- ducted interviews with class- mates and faculty, administered polls, and gath- ered a variety of opinions on Black Lives Matter.
They compiled that informa- tion into an article titled, “Cel- ebrating being American: Clarity on Black Lives Matter.” Included in the article was a photo of students with their fists raised in solidarity with black unity headed by a ques- tion that read, “How do you feel about the Black Lives Mat- ter movement?”
Unfortunately, as is often the case, embracing their black- ness didn't come without re- sistance.
The article that Vanessa and Ariana submitted for re- view, was returned to them vir-
Vanessa Newborn and Ariana Coleman and classmates in ‘raised fists’ photo.
tually unrecognizable. Every reference to Black Lives Matter had been removed and the title was changed to “We are Buck- ingham.” Told by their princi- pal that the original article was too controversial and the ques- tion was changed.
The photo of the girls with fists raised was also removed. Refusing to stand for the cen- sorship, the girls alerted the ACLU of Northern California who took on their cause and sent a demand letter to the school district, confronting the illegality of removing Black Lives Matter references from school publications just be- cause the school is afraid of ro-
bust conversation.
Students have a right to free
speech and expression at school including political speech, cultural expression, and speech that a school dis- trict may preemptively feel is controversial. Additionally, the California Education Code has made clear that student editors have the right to control their publications.
The school reversed its deci- sion in a letter stating, "after careful review of the issue, we have decided to allow the orig- inal yearbook spread prepared by the two students at Buck- ingham to be published in the 2016-2017 yearbook.
Latina Herring was fatally shot by Allen Dion Cashe.
SANFORD,FL--Amanin Sanford, Fla., reportedly killed his girlfriend and shot five other people, including the woman’s 7 and 8-year-old sons, Monday in what the San- ford police chief describes as a domestic incident that went wrong.
Police Chief Cecil Smith told the Orlando Sentinel that Allen Dion Cashe, 31, had an argument with his girlfriend, Latina Herring, 35, earlier on Monday over a set of keys that he refused to return. He had an AK-47 rifle when he was arrested after the shooting.
Herring’s two young sons and their maternal grandfa- ther, 60-year-old Bertis Her- ring Jr., who was also shot, were all in critical condition, police said.
According to police, Cashe and Herring had an argument over belongings at a gas station
and had to be separated by an officer. Police later received a call that the argument was con- tinuing on the front lawn of Herring’s home.
An officer responded to that call, and as he was talking to the couple, a third party called police to say that Cashe had a gun. The officer did not see a gun, however, and Cashe went on his way.
Not long after the officer left, police got a call about the fatal shooting at Herring’s home.
Cashe reportedly ran from the house after the shooting and shot Jackson and Pa- radesquelite near a school bus stop.
According to the Sentinel, a police officer in the area heard the second shooting and fol- lowed Cashe to an apartment complex, where he was taken into custody. A gun was found in his car.
Girl Gang Raped On Facebook Live Is Now Being Threatened
CHICAGO, IL — Chicago girl who was gang raped on Face- book Live has had to be relo- cated after receiving threats.
Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that the girl and her family had been offered relocation serv- ices. Guglielmi went on to say, through the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, that the girl is “in a safe place.”
The girl was reunited with her family on Tuesday after she was kidnapped and gang- raped, with the entire ordeal being filmed and posted to Facebook Live as 40 people watched live and did nothing about it. Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson became aware of the situation when the girl’s mother stopped him as he was leaving the police station and showed him still images from the Facebook Live video.
According to the girl’s mother, though, the threats have not stopped since her daughter was returned home. She told the Associated Press
Teen being threatened after being sexually assaulted.
that people on Facebook said “they are going to get her” and that children in the neighbor- hood had laughed about the in- cident and would ring their doorbell asking to see the girl.
According to Guglielmi, po- lice have “directed special at- tention” to the family’s home.
The girl and her mother have been working with police in the investigation to find those re- sponsible for the horrendous ordeal, but as of Friday, no ar- rests have yet been made in the case.
FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2017 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 13-B