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Do Black Kids Deserve This Treatment in School?

NNPA NEWSWIRE — After the incident Pearland ISD Board of Trustees member Mikael Floyd stated, “It’s no secret that racism, whether intentional or not, has crept into the code. The administration has made it clear that they are aware of the Board’s stance that provisions which are rooted in cultural or racial inequalities must be changed, and anything less will be unacceptable in my opinion.”

Published

6 years ago

August 28, 2019

Oakland Post

Photo of Juelz Trice’s scalp after Sharpie was used on his head by three White Pearland ISD employees

Three White Pearland ISD Employees Named in Federal Lawsuit after Humiliating 13-Year Old Black Student by Blackening His Scalp with a Sharpie

By Jeffrey L. Boney, NNPA Newswire Contributor

Laughing at the humiliation and degradation of a young and impressionable Black boy is intolerable but having that type of behavior displayed by the people directly responsible for the education and development of that young Black child is even more despicable.

Better yet, what if it was your child?

Well, one family is having to deal with the aftermath of what allegedly happened to their 13-year-old son, Juelz Trice, back on May 17th that has left the community up in arms.

The emotional, mental and physical scars that Juelz has had to overcome since the alleged incident involving three White Pearland Independent School District (ISD) employees, has left him feeling embarrassed, distraught and the subject of online bullying.

Juelz’s family recently filed a federal Civil Rights lawsuit against Pearland ISD, along with the School Discipline Clerk, Helen Day; the Assistant Principal at the time, Tony Barcelona; and a teacher, Jeanette Peterson, at the school that young Juelz attended.

According to the lawsuit, on April 16, 2019, Juelz, who is referred to as ‘J.T.’ in the federal lawsuit, was a 7th grader at Berry Miller Junior High School in Pearland, Texas. At the time of the alleged incident, Juelz had just gotten a “fade” haircut with a design line in his head. For those not familiar, a fade haircut is common and popular amongst many African American youth. Juelz’s fade haircut did not depict or represent anything violent, gang-related, obscene or otherwise offensive or inappropriate in any manner, as it relates to somehow violating the school policy that was on the books. The lawsuit continues by stating that on Wednesday, April 17, 2019, Juelz arrived at school by bus in a timely manner at about 8:20 am and immediately went to the cafeteria for breakfast. Tony Barcelona, who was the Assistant Principal at the time, and who is a White male, approached Juelz and told him to go to the office because he was allegedly “out of dress code” according to the school’s policy.

Juelz had never been informed that he had been “out of dress code” before, according to the lawsuit, so he did as he was told and went to the office. He waited for approximately twenty minutes before Assistant Principal Barcelona finally showed up. According to the lawsuit, Assistant Principal Barcelona further instructed Juelz to go to the office of Discipline Clerk Helen Day, who is a White female.

For the record, a discipline clerk in Pearland ISD is, as the title suggests, is stated as a person who is supposedly knowledgeable about the discipline policies in Pearland ISD and who is charged with their enforcement, including hairstyles in the dress code.

The lawsuit continues to describe what happened next. According to the lawsuit, Juelz walked into Discipline Clerk Day’s office, where she showed him a copy of the Pearland ISD dress code and told him that he was in violation of the dress code regarding hairstyles. After a short while, Assistant Principal Barcelona came to Discipline Clerk Day’s office to address the situation.

In the presence of Discipline Clerk Day, Assistant Principal Barcelona informed Juelz that he would receive In-School Suspension as a form of punishment for an indeterminate length of time. For the record, In-School Suspension requires that a student stay in one room all school day, where they cannot go to classes, thereby, straining their academic success. In addition to that, any school discipline received by a student can affect their extracurricular activity participation, to which Juelz, who is an active track participant, would have been affected.

Assistant Principal Barcelona gave Juelz another option, however, which was to have the fade haircut line design he had on his scalp immediately colored with a permanent marker, otherwise known as a Sharpie pen.

According to the lawsuit, in Juelz’s mind, this was intended to somehow cover up the line design. The lawsuit claims that neither Assistant Principal Barcelona, nor Discipline Clerk Day, informed Juelz that he could appeal the proposed suspension, appeal the potential scalp coloring or have a meeting or hearing about the matter to resolve the issue. The lawsuit also states that Juelz was not informed that he could contact his parents for their advice on the matter.

According to Juelz’s parents – Ms. Washington and Mr. Trice – no one made any attempt to contact either of them, although their phone numbers were on file and readily accessible. The lawsuit also states that no hearings or meetings were ever proposed or set up by any Pearland ISD employee to address the matter.

As Juelz had never been in trouble before, and because he did not want to be suspended or get in trouble with his parents by having a first-time suspension appear on his school record and possibly be removed from the track program, he made the decision, under great duress, to immediately choose coloring his scalp with the Sharpie as the best course of action to take.

After this forced decision, it was then, according to the lawsuit, that Discipline Clerk Day handed Juelz a jet-black Sharpie permanent marker in full view of Assistant Principal Barcelona.

Juelz claims in the lawsuit that after a few minutes, with Assistant Principal Barcelona overseeing, Discipline Clerk Day took the jet-black Sharpie from him and started coloring his scalp without his consent. The lawsuit goes on to say that as Discipline Clerk Day was blackening Juelz’s scalp, a schoolteacher, Jeanette Peterson, who is also White, just so happened to be passing by the office, and was asked to continue blackening Juelz’s scalp with the Sharpie without his consent. Peterson agreed and continued on with the humiliation of young Juelz.

One of the most troubling parts of the lawsuit, is where it states at times during the coloring of Juelz’s scalp, that Assistant Principal Barcelona, Discipline Clerk Day and schoolteacher Peterson were laughing at what these White adults in positions of legal authority in Pearland ISD were doing to him. To conclude the details in the lawsuit, it states that after they finished with their humiliation and demeaning actions of blackening Juelz’s scalp, Discipline Clerk Day sent him to Miller Moment, which is study hall, because their actions caused him to miss the entirety of his Spanish class. As he continued throughout his day, the lawsuit claims that students noticed the jet-black coloring on Juelz’s scalp, which generated tons of talk around the school. Some students even criticized him and made fun of him, according to the lawsuit, and social media posts with memes followed which caused Juelz tons of mental anguish.

After several attempts by the parents and their lawyer to resolve the issues with no response from Pearland ISD, the plaintiffs filed this federal lawsuit. According to the family’s lawyer, civil rights attorney Randall Kallinen, Pearland ISD changed their dress code hairstyle policy after the incident, and to make matters worse, Assistant Principal Barcelona has been promoted from assistant principal to head principal where Juelz is now a student in the eighth grade.

“Despite this extremely shameful behavior and history of racial discrimination, the Pearland ISD has doubled down and now installed Tony Barcelona as head principal of the Berry Miller Junior High School, kept Day and Peterson in their current positions, and refused to meet with Juelz’s parents to discuss their behavior or any training of Pearland ISD employees,” said Kallinen.

In a statement, Pearland ISD stated that the practice administered by the three White Pearland ISD employees was not one condoned by the district and stated that it did not align with appropriate measures for dealing with dress code violations.

After the incident Pearland ISD Board of Trustees member Mikael Floyd stated, “It’s no secret that racism, whether intentional or not, has crept into the code. The administration has made it clear that they are aware of the Board’s stance that provisions which are rooted in cultural or racial inequalities must be changed, and anything less will be unacceptable in my opinion.”

This is a troubling pattern that has continued in Pearland ISD. According to a 2015 study by the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Civil Rights, they found that while there were more than twice as many White students (38.6%) than African American students (15.9%) enrolled in Pearland ISD, the two groups made up equal portions of students who received In-School Suspensions (30.4%). In other words, African American students were suspended 143% more often than White students.

Juelz seems to be one of those recurring Black victims in Pearland ISD, based on the details surrounding this incident and spelled out in this federal lawsuit. The real question is, however, how many more Black students will become victims of these same Pearland ISD employees, who remain in positions to impact their lives and futures?

In the meantime, the lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount in compensatory damages. This case will be an interesting one to continue to follow.

Jeffrey Boney is a political analyst and frequent contributor for the NNPA Newswire and BlackPressUSA.com and the associate editor for the Houston Forward Times newspaper. Jeffrey is an award-winning journalist, dynamic, international speaker, experienced entrepreneur and business development strategist. Follow Jeffrey on Twitter @realtalkjunkies.

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Chavis and Bryant Lead Charge as Target Boycott Grows

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Surrounded by civil rights leaders, economists, educators, and activists, Bryant declared the Black community’s power to hold corporations accountable for broken promises.

Published

3 days ago

April 23, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent

Calling for continued economic action and community solidarity, Dr. Jamal H. Bryant launched the second phase of the national boycott against retail giant Target this week at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta. Surrounded by civil rights leaders, economists, educators, and activists, Bryant declared the Black community’s power to hold corporations accountable for broken promises. “They said they were going to invest in Black communities. They said it — not us,” Bryant told the packed sanctuary. “Now they want to break those promises quietly. That ends tonight.” The town hall marked the conclusion of Bryant’s 40-day “Target fast,” initiated on March 3 after Target pulled back its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) commitments. Among those was a public pledge to spend $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by 2025—a pledge Bryant said was made voluntarily in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020.“No company would dare do to the Jewish or Asian communities what they’ve done to us,” Bryant said. “They think they can get away with it. But not this time.”

The evening featured voices from national movements, including civil rights icon and National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President & CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., who reinforced the need for sustained consciousness and collective media engagement. The NNPA is the trade association of the 250 African American newspapers and media companies known as The Black Press of America. “On the front page of all of our papers this week will be the announcement that the boycott continues all over the United States,” said Chavis. “I would hope that everyone would subscribe to a Black newspaper, a Black-owned newspaper, subscribe to an economic development program — because the consciousness that we need has to be constantly fed.” Chavis warned against the bombardment of negativity and urged the community to stay engaged beyond single events. “You can come to an event and get that consciousness and then lose it tomorrow,” he said. “We’re bombarded with all of the disgust and hopelessness. But I believe that starting tonight, going forward, we should be more conscious about how we help one another.”

He added, “We can attain and gain a lot more ground even during this period if we turn to each other rather than turning on each other.” Other speakers included Tamika Mallory, Dr. David Johns, Dr. Rashad Richey, educator Dr. Karri Bryant, and U.S. Black Chambers President Ron Busby. Each speaker echoed Bryant’s demand that economic protests be paired with reinvestment in Black businesses and communities. “We are the moral consciousness of this country,” Bryant said. “When we move, the whole nation moves.” Sixteen-year-old William Moore Jr., the youngest attendee, captured the crowd with a challenge to reach younger generations through social media and direct engagement. “If we want to grow this movement, we have to push this narrative in a way that connects,” he said.

Dr. Johns stressed reclaiming cultural identity and resisting systems designed to keep communities uninformed and divided. “We don’t need validation from corporations. We need to teach our children who they are and support each other with love,” he said. Busby directed attendees to platforms like ByBlack.us, a digital directory of over 150,000 Black-owned businesses, encouraging them to shift their dollars from corporations like Target to Black enterprises. Bryant closed by urging the audience to register at targetfast.org, which will soon be renamed to reflect the expanding boycott movement. “They played on our sympathies in 2020. But now we know better,” Bryant said. “And now, we move.”

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The Department of Education is Collecting Delinquent Student Loan Debt

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — the Department of Education will withhold money from tax refunds and Social Security benefits, garnish federal employee wages, and withhold federal pensions from people who have defaulted on their student loan debt.

Published

3 days ago

April 23, 2025

Oakland Post

By April Ryan

Trump Targets Wages for Forgiven Student Debt

The Department of Education, which the Trump administration is working to abolish, will now serve as the collection agency for delinquent student loan debt for 5.3 million people who the administration says are delinquent and owe at least a year’s worth of student loan payments. “It is a liability to taxpayers,” says White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt at Tuesday’s White House Press briefing. She also emphasized the student loan federal government portfolio is “worth nearly $1.6 trillion.” The Trump administration says borrowers must repay their loans, and those in “default will face involuntary collections.” Next month, the Department of Education will withhold money from tax refunds and Social Security benefits, garnish federal employee wages, and withhold federal pensions from people who have defaulted on their student loan debt. Leavitt says “we can not “kick the can down the road” any longer.”

Much of this delinquent debt is said to have resulted from the grace period the Biden administration gave for student loan repayment. The grace period initially was set for 12 months but extended into three years, ending September 30, 2024. The Trump administration will begin collecting the delinquent payments starting May 5. Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough, president of Talladega College, told Black Press USA, “We can have that conversation about people paying their loans as long as we talk about the broader income inequality. Put everything on the table, put it on the table, and we can have a conversation.” Kimbrough asserts, “The big picture is that Black people have a fraction of wealth of white so you’re… already starting with a gap and then when you look at higher education, for example, no one talks about Black G.I.’s that didn’t get the G.I. Bill. A lot of people go to school and build wealth for their family…Black people have a fraction of wealth, so you already start with a wide gap.”

According to the Education Data Initiative, https://educationdata.org/average-time-to-repay-student-loans It takes the average borrower 20 years to pay their student loan debt. It also highlights how some professional graduates take over 45 years to repay student loans. A high-profile example of the timeline of student loan repayment is the former president and former First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama, who paid off their student loans by 2005 while in their 40s. On a related note, then-president Joe Biden spent much time haggling with progressives and Democratic leaders like Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer on Capitol Hill about whether and how student loan forgiveness would even happen.

Oakland Post

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VIDEO: The Rev. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. at United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent

https://youtu.be/Uy_BMKVtRVQ Excellencies: With all protocol noted and respected, I am speaking today on behalf of the Black Press of America and on behalf of the Press of People of African Descent throughout the world. I thank the Proctor Conference that helped to ensure our presence here at the Fourth Session of the […]

Published

3 days ago

April 23, 2025

Oakland Post

https://youtu.be/Uy_BMKVtRVQ

Excellencies:

With all protocol noted and respected, I am speaking today on behalf of the Black Press of America and on behalf of the Press of People of African Descent throughout the world. I thank the Proctor Conference that helped to ensure our presence here at the Fourth Session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent.

The focus on AI and digital equity is urgent within the real time realities today where there continues to be what is referred to as the so called mainstream national and international media companies that systematically undergird racism and imperialism against the interests of People of African Descent.

We therefore call on this distinguished gathering of leaders and experts to challenge member states to cite and to prevent the institutionalization of racism in all forms of media including social media, AI and any form of digital bias and algorithmic discrimination.

We cannot trust nor entertains the notion that former and contemporary enslavers will now use AI and digital transformation to respect our humanity and fundamental rights.

Lastly we recommend that a priority should be given to the convening of an international collective of multimedia organizations and digital associations that are owned and developed by Africans and People of African Descent.

Basta the crimes against our humanity!

Basta Racism!

Basta Imperialism!

A Luta Continua!

Victory is certain!