8:03 am UTC May. 23, 2021
Long before George Floyd was killed – and many Americans turned a serious eye toward acknowledging, understanding and even uprooting systemic racism – English high school teacher Amy Donofrio was encouraging her students in Jacksonville, Florida
to push for equality and empowerment, for justice and personal achievement.
She wanted them to dream and thrive, and she developed an interpersonal road map to assist them in reaching their destiny – be it helping them apply to colleges, decide on a trade or meet with recruiters and enlist in the military.
As an educator at Robert E. Lee High School (we ll get to that abomination in a moment), where the student body is 70% Black, Donofrio also wanted to offer
Tell your legislators you don’t want kids in adult prisons | Opinion
Today 8:09 AM
By the Rev. Kevin Witt
As citizens, we can help shape the world we live in by looking at laws as an expression of our best values as a community. What impact both intended and unintended do they have on everyone? In addition, are laws being applied in the same way for all groups in our community? If not, it is an important responsibility to communicate with our elected representatives whose role it is to legislate the laws we live by.
If we, as citizens, do not make them aware of harm resulting from certain laws who will? This communication is our part in working for the common good and creating a caring, just community.
Listen • 3:35
Amy Donofrio stands in front of Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Fla. She was suspended from teaching duties after she refused to take down a Black Lives Matter flag from outside her classroom.
Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Fla., was segregated whites only until the 1971-1972 school year. Its school colors are blue and gray, the colors of the Confederacy, and its sports teams are called the Generals.
But a lot has changed since the 1970s: Now, the student body is 70% Black. Students run an Instagram page to document racism they experience at school. And a student group called the EVAC Movement, focused on reframing Black youth in Jacksonville from at risk to at hope, met with then-President Barack Obama in 2016 and presented before the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Home/News from NPR/Can A Teacher Fly A Black Lives Matter Flag At School? A Florida Court Will Consider
Can A Teacher Fly A Black Lives Matter Flag At School? A Florida Court Will Consider
By Sydney Boles
April 30, 2021
Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Fla., was segregated whites only until the 1971-1972 school year. Its school colors are blue and gray, the colors of the Confederacy, and its sports teams are called the Generals.
But a lot has changed since the 1970s: Now, the student body is 70% Black. Students run an Instagram page to document racism they experience at school. And a student group called the EVAC Movement, focused on reframing Black youth in Jacksonville from “at risk” to “at hope,” met with then-President Barack Obama in 2016 and presented before the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.