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Arizona HS Student Forced to Remove Black Lives Matter Shirt

Black Lives Matter

Source: Michael B. Thomas / Stringer / Getty

An Arizona high schooler who wore a Black Lives Matter t-shirt for picture day was told to take it off because it violated the school’s dress code.

According to KPNX, News 12, 10th grader Mariah Havard was told to go to the school’s office, where she says administration leaders told her the shirt wasn’t allowed because the school bans clothing and accessories which can “disrupt the education process.”

“I wasn’t able to wear the shirt anymore because somebody made a complaint,” Havard said.  “I was a little bit confused as to why I wouldn’t be able to wear something so meaningful to me.”

Havard’s mother said her daughter was “respectful” when told she had to change, but they still were perplexed as to why this shirt was viewed as problematic.

“She was asked to change and she didn’t question them — she was being respectful,” Roxanne Havard told KPNX. “She went in the bathroom and was thinking about why she had to change.”

However the Havards believe that the 15-year-old was unfairly targeted by this rule, especially since other students have worn shirts that can be deemed as offensive or political.

“I’ve seen gay pride shirts, I’ve seen confederate flags,” said student Genesis Santoyo, told the news outlet. ‘I’ve actually seen a white power shirt once.”

Shame.

DA Drops Charges Against Morehouse Student Athletes Accused Of Sexual Assault

US-POLITICS-OBAMA

MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images / Getty

An Atlanta district attorney has dropped all charges against three former Morehouse student athletes accused of sexual assault in 2015.

According to WSB TV News, the Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard admitted that they didn’t have enough evidence to prove that Malcom Jamal Frank, Chukwudi Ndudikwa and Tevin Mgbo were guilty of rape. But Howard was clear: He didn’t think the three men were innocent.

“I would not characterize what they did as innocent,” Paul Howard said. “Let me tell you, I had a lot of reservations about dismissing it. The young lady involved suffered greatly because of the incident.”

The details are murky. Despite witnesses saying that alleged victim was conscious and consented to sex, the investigation didn’t come up with that same conclusion.

“Based upon the circumstances, they might not have been able to tell that she was not giving them her consent,” Howard said.

Howard told WSB his office has “exhausted all legal options” and they no plans to file lesser charges against the former students.

This isn’t the first time that Morehouse College has been linked to rape allegations. Earlier this year, Buzzfeed published a damning article highlighting rape culture on the HBCU campus and the little support that Spelman students receive when reporting sexual assault by the hands of Morehouse students.

Say What? Cancer Patient Sent To Jail Over Bounced Checks

Handcuffed Prisoner

Source: Erika Kyte / Getty

File this one under “What The?” news.

According to the Huffington Post, an Arkansas cancer patient was arrested and sent to jail for 90 days for bouncing $200 worth of checks. Lee Robertson’s financial problems began in 2009 when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which made it impossible for him to find and maintain a job.

Since then, he has been arrested seven times, with his last incarceration being a result of owing the Sherwood court $3,054.51 in fees linked to bounced checks.

But he is now fighting back.

Robertson recently joined a civil lawsuit with other plaintiffs that have similar experiences with the Sherwood court system. Led by the Arkansas Civil Liberties Union and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the suit states that Sherwood’s policies create a “modern-day debtors’ prison” society.

See, Sherwood’s “Hot Check Division,” which solely focuses on people writing bad checks and check fraud, has issued “over 35,000 warrants annually” and collected nearly $12 million in five years, the Huffington Post noted. In addition, each overdrawn check, no matter how small the amount, can bring in $400 in fines and fees.

Clearly this has raised serious eyebrows.

The current lawsuit also says that this system doesn’t look like an “actual court or independent judicial process.” Bailiffs tell defendants that the court is closed, they don’t allow family and friends inside the and defendants are forced to sign a “waiver of counsel” that forfeits their right to an attorney.

“People are doomed for failure when they appear before the court, and most significantly trapped in this never-ending cycle of expanding debt,” Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law told the Huffington Post.

“With the resurgence of debtors’ prisons, we will continue to see people cycle in and our of jails and prisons across our country merely because of their inability to pay fines and fees tied to low-level, nonviolent offenses,” she added.

HELLO BEAUTIFUL will continue to monitor this lawsuit and provide updates as they become available. 

The grand return of the Melanin Awards amplifies and honors the finest Black-owned beauty brands with honest reviews, and discusses the evolution of beauty in Hip-Hop culture.