T E X A S
MetroNews DELIVERING NEWS YOU NEED
• Vol. 10 • Mar. 9 - 15, 2023
MY TRUTH By Cheryl Smith PUBLISHER
A Legend Indeed!
Thomas Dortch Jr. (r) talks with HBCU alum at Smokey John's Barbecue in Dallas in 1987.
I met Thomas Dortch, Jr. in 1987. As president of the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the Florida A&M University National Alumni Association, my focus was on service (serving our alumni, students, communities). Unlike other organizations that have vice presidents who are like persons in waiting or acting in abstentia; my vice presidents were put to work! So, I charged my VP, Dr Vivian Bradley Johnson, with a project that has withstood the test of time. Now, those who are familiar with the 1970s cult favorite, The Warriors, will see the influence here. I told Dr. Viv to schedule a meeting at the historic Smokey John’s Barbecue; calling together the alumni chapter presidents of HBCUs located in the D/FW Metroplex. The purpose of the meeting was to see if they would be interested in working together to better serve all of our institutions, because where there is unity, there is strength. See MY TRUTH, page 10
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Meet the 2023 Jack & Jill - Dallas Chapter Beaux Corp. pages 8, 9, 16
Frisco student reprimanded for requesting sex from teacher
By Ayesha Hana Shaji
Texas Metro News Team
This is a continuation of last week’s story. A 13-year-old boy has been sentenced to 45 days of alternative school for a TikTok prank gone wrong at Cobb Middle School in Frisco ISD. When Jordan Thomas did the “mumble prank,” he meant for it to be harmless. But things took a turn when his teacher misinterpreted the prank to be a request for oral sex, a claim he denies. “I’m sorry if that’s what [the teacher] heard but that’s not what I said,” Thomas said. Initially, Thomas served one day of in-school suspension and the case was closed by assistant principal Clay Grubb. However, it was reopened, without any further prompts,
by assistant principal Reaunna Johnson, who levied another punishment toward Thomas - 45 days of alternative school and a threat to file a sexual harassment police complaint. When the decision was appealed, an in-house hearing was held on Feb. 24 with Johnson, their legal team, Thomas’ mother Carla Broom and their representation, George and Sarah Roland, defense attorneys from a Denton-based firm. Unfortunately, the school didn’t rescind their punishment. Thomas will also have a seven-year record stating sexual harassment against a teacher, said Broom; who is again appealing the decision and awaiting a hearing date. Rev. Dr. James Thomas, president of NAACP’s San Fernando Valley chapter, said he will fly to Texas and be present at the
Photo: Frisco ISD
final appeal hearing to show his support for the student and the mother. “This is not just about Jordan but about every student and making sure the district and the school [are] a safe environment,” he said. “To make that school a safe environment for Black folks and people of color makes it a safe environment for everybody.” Broom has also found additional representation for the final appeal - education advocate Gerry Monroe of Monroe Consultation, LLC.
“[Johnson] has a history of suspending Black boys at a higher rate than any other ethnicity,” Monroe said. “She has a history of sending Black boys to alternative school.” Thomas does not have anything on his disciplinary record prior to this issue. Moreover, there is no documentation, even in the teacher’s written statement, suggesting Thomas asked for oral sex, said Monroe. “So I represent kids every single day and this is a joke. It's got to be the biggest joke in the world,” he said. According to Monroe, people are forgetting this is a 13-yearold and if anything this should be a learning curve and not an excuse to criminalize a child. “We've gotten to the point in the United States of America, See FRISCO STUDENT, page 6
BHM viewed from Ethiopian ‘Land of Origins’ By Norma Adams-Wade
Texas Metro News Correspondent
As Black History Month ended, one North Texas activist said we failed to see that we all share a common history. For most of her life, Yeharerwerk Gashaw has advocated for peace and independence for her homeland of Ethiopia. Her name should be familiar to those who have followed her 40-year career as a model, actress, international human rights activist, political organizer and ambassador for social causes. Generally, her name is pronounced Ye-HA-rer-work Gas-HAW and usually shortened to Ye-HA-rer. During this time of Black heritage reflection, Gashaw asked us to take a look at how we share a common past and help shape the future of what scientists call
Yeharer photo from modeling days in the 1980s.
humankind’s “Land of Origins.” Her premise comes from scientists who say that human life began in Ethiopia, the “Horn of Africa” because of its shape. Ethiopia is where scientists
Yeharerwerk Gashaw
Photo: David Minton for The Dallas Morning News
in 1974 discovered Lucy, who lived 3.2 million years ago. Lucy is one the world’s most complete and best-preserved hominids - a prehistoric ancestor to humans.
Bible researcher and author David T. Adamo notes that Africa and Africans are mentioned 1,417 times in the Bible. All of this fuels Gashaw’s pride in her Ethiopian homeland. And during Black History Month, she says more people of the world should care and take action to stop Ethiopia’s civil wars. The violence is largely between the main Ethiopian military and the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) that is seeking more power and independence for their region and ethnic group. The Ethiopian government says the country has more than 80 ethnic groups among its 100 million population. These groups are separated into more than a dozen separate “protected areas” with their own See BLACK HISTORY MONTH, page 7