Page 20 - Florida Sentinel 5-7-19

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Black Student Robbed Of Salutatorian Because District Wanted To Appease Racist Town
Amber Alert Issued In Houston
For 5-Year Old Reportedly
Abducted By Three Men
According to a federal law- suit, recent high school gradu- ate Olecia James claims she was denied her rightful place as salutatorian of her Missis- sippi high school’s graduating class so that the district would not cause an issue among the town’s white residents.
In the lawsuit, uploaded for viewing by The Hill, James seeks monetary damages and a change in the race-based poli- cies she says the Cleveland School District used to violate her rights to equal protection under the law.
James graduated last year from Cleveland, Miss.’s brand- new and recently integrated Cleveland Central High School as part of its inaugural class. Until recently Cleveland had two separate high school, one for white students and another for Black students. In her suit,
ently, the district was nervous about how white people would react if Olecia James’ name was announced as salutato- rian.
According to James, in their attempts to justify giving the white boy her salutatorian spot, district officials changed her grades on her school records to make it seem that they were lower.
They soon apologized James says, but still pre- sented the white student as salutatorian. They justified their decision giving more ed- ucational weight to the classes he had taken at the historically white high school over the ones James had taken at the his- torically black high school.
School district officials had no comment when contacted by the Mississippi Clarion- Ledger.
The reported kidnapping of Maleah Davis took place around 9pm Saturday night. She was last seen near the 16500 block of the Southwest Freeway and Highway 6 in Sugar Land, TX near Houston. Maleah’s stepfather claims that he, his two-year-old son and Maleah were abducted by three Hispanic men in their 30s driving a 2010 blue Chevrolet Crew Cab pick-up truck, according to ABC13.
At this point, authorities don’t know the motive behind the kidnapping. They also do not know the license plate of the kidnapping car used in the incident which is believed to have originated in north Hous- ton.
In Texas, an Amber Alert has been set in place due to a 5- year-old girl being reportedly abducted by three men.
OLECIA JAMES
James says she had the sec- ond-highest grades in the graduating class, but that the honor of salutatorian was given to a white male student with lower grades.
According to the suit the dis- trict made the decision, “to prevent white flight.” Appar-
Baltimore Mayor Catherine
Naked And Unarmed 17-Year-Old Fatally Shot By Oklahoma Police During Seemingly Mental Health Episode
Pugh Resigns Amid Criminal
Probe Over Children's Book
Embattled Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, who has been away from the job amid a corruption scandal centered around a children’s book, an- nounced her resignation through her lawyer Thursday.
"Dear citizens of Baltimore, I would like to thank you for al- lowing me to serve as the fiftieth mayor. It has been an honor and a privilege," the statement read by her lawyer said. "Today I am submitting my written resigna- tion to the Baltimore City Coun-
cil.""I am sorry for the harm that I have caused to the image of the city of Baltimore and the credibility of the office of the mayor," Pugh's statement con- tinued. "Baltimore deserves a mayor who can move our great city forward."
The announcement was widely expected as Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Repub- lican, and members of the Balti- more City Council and others had called for the mayor to re- sign.
Last week, federal agents searched the homes and City Hall offices of Pugh, who is under state investigation over hundreds of thousands of dol- lars earned selling her "Healthy Holly" series of children’s books
Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh talks about the late night removal of four confederate statues in the city, on Aug. 16, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland.
to a health plan that does busi- ness with the city and a Univer- sity of Maryland medical system she once helped oversee.
Pugh's announcement was delayed by health issues. On April 1, she took a leave of ab- sence to recover from pneumo- nia. Last week, her attorney, Steve Silverman, said any de- cision on whether to resign or not would only come when she is “physically and mentally sound and lucid enough to make appropriate decisions.”
An unarmed Edmond, Okla- homa, teen was fatally shot by police following a 911 call from his girlfriend describing the victim's erratic behavior.
The Guardian reports 17- year-old Isaiah Lewis was killed in a police-involved shooting on Monday after- noon. Edmond police arrived on the scene after a neighbor called 911.
Two girls, both of whom are white, came running from a nearby house begging the unidentified neighbor to call for help. One of the girls was Isaiah's girlfriend, Kamri Pollock, who the neighbor told 911 operators that Isaiah had been abusing, according to local outlet KFOR News 4.
"My boyfriend just flipped out," Pollock said on the 911 call. "I have no idea what is going on."
The girl claimed Isaiah was not intoxicated during the po- lice encounter. However, no toxicology report has been re- leased to confirm her claim.
Eyewitnesses said the teen was running naked through the neighborhood. He was al- legedly seen throwing drugs and jumping over a fence at the time.
A pair of officers came to the scene and conducted a one- hour search for the teen. When they found him inside of an- other person's home, the police allegedly got into a chase and a
ISAIAH LEWIS
fist fight with Isaiah as they tried to subdue him.
One of the officers used his taser to bring down the teen but eventually fired their weapon, police spokesperson Jenny Wagnon said. Initial reports from the police claimed the high school student was an adult.
On Wednesday, authorities retracted their original claim that he was an adult and re- leased the names of the two of- ficers involved.
The officers responsible for the killing have been identified as 56-year-old Sgt. Milo Box and 24-year-old officer Den- ton Scherman, The Oklaho- man reports. Neither reportedly wore bodycams during the alleged altercation with the teen.
"He was not armed," the victim's mother, Vicki Lewis,
told KFOR News 4. "He didn't deserve to die the way that he did. He didn't deserve to die, period."
While speaking to News 4, Vicki said she did not know he was dating Kamri. She has no intention to talk to her son's girlfriend.
"I don't think it is appropri- ate at this time to even have any contact with that young lady right now," Vicki said.
“Our department is in the process of issuing body cam- eras later this year,” Wagnon said in a statement. “There are four issued for various officers to wear while on duty as we roll out our system, but none in- volved in the OIS were wearing a body camera.”
An Edmond public school representative told media the slain teen was attending an al- ternative school and he strug- gled academically before his death.
The spokesperson's state- ments, which added nothing to why he was fired upon, were taken as a slight against Isa- iah's character, his mother said.
"He doesn't get to graduate [on] May 18th like he could have," Vicki Lewis said. "He didn't go to the prom."
As the family searches for answers, local Black Lives Mat- ter activists are planning to hold a rally for the teen on Fri- day.
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