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Parent Locked Out Of Spelman Graduation Vows To Stop Support

Ruth Manuel-Logan — Fri, 24 May 2013 19:24:42 +0000

One of the proudest moments of Melvin Cox’s life would have been to see his daughter graduate with honors from the prestigious Spelman College in Atlanta. Yet, the potential memory of his daughter’s cap and gown moment was allegedly robbed from him, when he — and other parents — reportedly arrived at the school’s graduation ceremony late and were therefore locked out of the event, according to WSBTV.

Talking with WSBTV about missing his daughter’s graduation, which took place on Sunday at 3 p.m. sharp, Cox said, “It is unacceptable, and it’s something that needs to be addressed today.” According to the disturbed Dad, the event’s doors were locked by security guards at 2:30 p.m.

Cox flew in from Oakland, Calif., and spent more than $1,400 in airfare and accommodations to attend the event. When he and other parents of the graduating class asked to be allowed entry in to the ceremony, security guards reportedly refused — allegedly using verbal threats.

Cox, along with the other parents who were locked out, are incensed about the school’s seemingly unreasonable policy and are demanding that the college reassess it, “To simply turn us away, to at one point call the Sheriff’s Department, and to threaten us with arrests, I mean it’s just not right,” Cox told WSBTV.

Cox, who admits that he and his daughter cannot even bring up the graduation without becoming emotional, added, “One of the memories of the day would be a Mother from New York, I believe, with tears welled up in her eyes just standing there in the rain, not believing this was happening to her and her family.”

Gunman Shoots Up Strip Club With AK-47 After DJ Refuses To Play Song

NewsOne Staff — Fri, 24 May 2013 19:02:37 +0000

Philadelphia police are looking for a 21-year-old man who fired into a local strip club after getting into an argument with club management, WPVI-TV/DT Philadelphia reports.

On May 11, Henry Pettigrew and another man were escorted out of the Purple Orchid Gentleman’s Club after arguing with club management over the DJ’s refusal to play a song they had requested.

As Pettigrew and the man were being escorted out of the establishment, they mistook a customer who was walking inside the club as a bouncer and assaulted him. As that man tried to escape in his SUV, Pettigrew allegedly emerged with an AK-47 and shot at the fleeing vehicle. The driver was hit above his right hip.

“Fortunately where it hit him, it hit the flesh of his body and it didn’t hit any vital organs,” Lt. Johnny Walker of the Philadelphia Police Department said.

Here is more from WPVI-TV/DT Philadelphia:

Surveillance video then shows the suspect running into the club while brandishing the rifle. He moves to open a door but slips and falls, due to being very intoxicated, police say.

The man then gets up, opens the door, brings up the gun and opens fire.

The video shows multiple muzzle flashes and debris flying as round after round are fired.

“Just wildly, obviously with an AK-47 with a banana clip, it can fire multiple rounds at a high rate of speed very quickly,” Walker said.

9-Year-Old Calls Out Chicago Mayor About School Closings [VIDEO]

Ariel Cherie, Editorial Assistant — Fri, 24 May 2013 17:54:31 +0000

“Education is our right! That is why we have to fight!”

Those were the chants started by 9-year-old Asean Johnson of Chicago who was upset that a whopping 50 schools are going to be shut down. Young Johnson, who attends Marcus Garvey Elementary School, goes in on Rahm Emmanuel for his lack of support, according to Smoking Section. “Rahm Emmanuel does not care about our schools. He does not care about our safety.”

“Don’t do this to me. You know what happens to kids in this city. I need this.”

I’m not sure it will ever make sense to close schools, especially in a major city like Chicago, versus attempting to make them better. And what Asean Johnson said in the video was pretty spot on. As if enough isn’t happening in Chicago already with the rampant gun violence, I’m sure school closures will only add to the mess the city is in.

From NewsOne about the Chicago schooling crisis:

The vast majority of the 54 schools are in overwhelmingly Black neighborhoods that have lost residents in recent years. Chicago’s Black population dropped 17 percent in the last census as African Americans moved out to the suburbs and elsewhere. The other few schools are majority Hispanic or mixed Black and Hispanic. Overall, 91 percent of Chicago public school students are minorities.

What did you think of his video?

12-Year-Old Girl Hangs Herself After Being Cyberbullied By Classmates

NewsOne Staff — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:00:14 +0000

Gabrielle Molina, 12, hanged herself in her Queens, New York home after being viciously cyber-bullied by her middle school classmates, reports the New York Post.

The pre-teen was found hanging by a belt from a ceiling fan, according to police. She left a heartbreaking note detailing the emotional abuse she suffered at the hands of her classmates at IS 109.

George Zimmerman’s Attorney Trying To Put Trayvon Martin On Trial

Skyyhook, Contributing Editor — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:37:36 +0000

Welp, let’s file this one under you can’t be serious news! Don West, an attorney for the man accused of fatally shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, is requesting that a judge in the case, allow the Zimmerman team to deny the prosecution’s motion that Trayvon’s alleged marijuana use be kept out of the trial.

Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for shooting Trayvon and has plead not guilty, claiming self-defense.

George Zimmerman‘s attorney filed his own request on Monday, alleging that Trayvon was probably smoking weed that day that he was murdered in 2012, and that it could be relevent.

Says West,

“That could be relevant to a jury evaluating Martin’s actions the night he was shot.”

According to The Huffington Post, The prosecution has asked that the judge not allow Martin’s marijuana use or his other personal matters to be brought in to the courtroom.

Homeless Teen Graduates Valedictorian & Will Enter Spelman As A Junior

Danielle Young, Associate Editor — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:12:12 +0000

Chelsea Pearce is the type of girl who’s tragic, yet triumphant life is the thing tear-jerking movies are made of. Spending most of her teen years living in her mother’s car, Chelsea has managed to do the damn near impossible–graduate from high school…at the top of her class. That’s not all! The impressive Charles Drew High School senior will be going to college at Spelman College, where she will bypass freshman and sophomore year to start as a junior!

Fearce spent her last two high school years taking college courses and her 1900 SAT score made her an academic star at her school.

How does one do this, especially under the circumstances of poverty Fearce faced? With a 4.466 GPA in her grasp, Fearce simply states, “I just did what I had to do.” Fearce is a part of a family of five and there were many times where they’d have a place to live, but those times were few and far between. Fearce’s mother, Reenita Shepherd says they “ended up back in another shelter because I got laid off from my job maybe about four or five times.”

Funeral Program For Malcolm Shabazz Released

Kirsten West Savali — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:19:04 +0000

Two days after the birthday of iconic human rights leader, El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz (Malcolm X), his grandson, Malcolm Shabazz, was buried next to him and his wife, Dr. Betty Shabazz, at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, NY, according to a statement released by Shabazz family spokesperson, Terrie Williams. NewsOne has obtained his funeral program.

“Malcolm Shabazz was laid to rest today, Tuesday, May 21, 2013, at 11:30 AM near his grandparents (Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz) at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, NY,” the statement reads. “He was surrounded by his mother Qubilah; his aunts–Attallah, Gamilah, Ilyasah, Malaak, Malikah, other family & very close friends. Surprise guest and friend, R&B recording artist, Jaheim, offered his condolences and sang acapella “I Miss You (For Moms)” from his 1st album entitled “Ghetto Love”. Malcolm and Jaheim met at a youth rally The Terrie Williams Agency hosted at a Queens Public Library many years ago.”

As previously reported by NewsOne, Shabazz died from vicious injuries sustained on May 9, 2013 in Mexico City, Mexico, during a brawl at the Palace bar near Plaza Garibaldi, reportedly a dangerous area for tourists.

Two Palace waiters, David Hernandez Cruz and Manuel Alejandro Perez de Jesus, have been charged with homicide.

Though that would be neat conclusion for law enforcement, Malcolm’s own words after being arrested and harassed by police en-route to a Hollywoodism conference in Iran allude to a more sinister reality:

In the beginning of 2012 I had been informed that I was under investigation by the F.B.I.’s Counter Terrorism Task Force Unit located in Goshen, N.Y.

…

The formula for a public assassination is: the character assassination before the physical assassination; so one has to be made killable before the eyes of the public in order for their eventual murder to then deemed justifiable. And when the time arrives for these hits to be carried out you’re not going to see a C.I.A. agent with a suit & tie, and a badge that says “C.I.A.” walk up to someone, and pull the trigger. What they will do is to out-source to local police departments in the region of their target, and to employ those that look like the target of interest to infiltrate the workings in order to set up the environment for the eventual assassination (character, physical/incarceration, exile) to take place.

In the days prior to Malcolm’s death, he posted two cryptic — and now arguably foreshadowing — Facebook update about his “powerful enemies” and “weird” messages:

Georgia Woman Allegedly Stabbed Stepdad Multiple Times

NewsOne Staff — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:46:40 +0000

Shaquioa Chantres Crawford (pictured) of Powder Springs, Ga., was arrested Sunday night after she allegedly stabbed her stepfather multiple times, the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Crawford, 19, and Vince Anderson, 51, were arguing over the location of an EBT card, according to the West Cobb Patch.

“The accused stated the victim grabbed her by the arm and tried to remove her from the residence,” according to a warrant obtained by The Patch. “The accused admitted to removing a silver in color folding pocket knife from her pocket and striking the victim on the head and neck area causing cuts and lacerations to the victims head and neck.”

Crawford allegedly stabbed Anderson some more in the front yard.

Cleveland Hero Charles Ramsey Awarded Free Burgers for Life

The Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:18:06 +0000

CLEVELAND (AP)— The man who famously put down his Big Mac to help rescue three women held captive for a decade in an Ohio house will never have to pay for another burger in his hometown.

Charles Ramsey has been promised free burgers for life at more than a dozen Cleveland-area restaurants.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the restaurant where Ramsey worked as a dishwasher initially created a special burger in his honor, but eateries in the city decided a larger tribute was due.

Ramsey was called a hero after helping Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight break out of the house May 6. Ariel Castro is now facing charges.

The newspaper says Ramsey was traveling and would get his “Chuck Card” when he returns.

Chicago Board of Ed Votes to Close 50 Schools

The Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:56:52 +0000

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Board of Education voted Wednesday to close 50 schools and programs, an ambitious plan that has sparked protests and lawsuits and could help define — for better or worse — Mayor Rahm Emanuel‘s term in office.

City officials say the closings are necessary because of falling school enrollment and as part of their efforts to improve the city’s struggling education system. Critics have blasted Emanuel, the former White House chief of staff, and schools chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett, saying the closings disproportionately affect minority neighborhoods and will endanger children who may have to cross gang boundaries to get to a new school.

They protested during a sometimes raucous board meeting Wednesday and sent busloads of parents, teachers and students to Springfield to lobby lawmakers to approve a moratorium on the closings. Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis called it “a day of mourning” for the children of Chicago, but Byrd-Bennett defended the decision.

“The only consideration for us today is to do exactly what is right for the children,” Byrd-Bennett said before the vote.

Many experts say it is the largest number of closings at any one time by any school district in recent memory, and it comes with political risk. The teacher’s union already has pledged to start a voter registration drive in an attempt to register 200,000 new voters before the 2015 municipal elections — when Emanuel will be up for re-election — and to raise funds to support candidates for mayor, city council and statewide office.

“We know that we may not win every seat we intend to target but with research, polling, money and people power we can win some of them,” Lewis said.

But the mayor said Tuesday he believes closing the schools is the right thing to do, and that possible blowback from voters wasn’t a factor in his decisions.

“I will absorb the political consequence so our children have a better future,” Emanuel said. “If I was to shrink from something the city has discussed for over a decade about what it needed to do … because it was politically too tough, but then watch another generation of children drop out or fail in their reading and math, I don’t want to hold this job.”

Chicago is among several major U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, Washington and Detroit to use mass school closures to reduce costs and offset declining enrollment. Detroit has closed more than 130 schools since 2005, including more than 40 in 2010 alone.

The school closings are the second major issue pitting Emanuel against the Chicago Teachers Union. The group’s 26,000 members went on strike early in the school year, partly over the school district’s demand for longer school days, idling students for a week.

Emanuel and Byrd-Bennett say the district’s financial and educational struggles call for drastic action. They say Chicago Public Schools is facing a deficit of about $1 billion and that too many buildings are half-empty because of a population drop in some city neighborhoods. CPS says it has 403,000 students in a system that has seats for more than 500,000.