• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
AFRIPOL

AFRIPOL

en English
ar Arabiczh-CN Chinese (Simplified)nl Dutchen Englishfr Frenchde Germanit Italianpt Portugueseru Russianes Spanish
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Mission Statement
  • Articles
  • Book Review
  • Archive
  • Contact Us

Mother Of African American Preschooler Demands Answers After Teacher Gives Son ‘Monkey Award’

June 6, 2022 by Admin Leave a Comment

Written by Danteé Ramos

Shemekia Ellis’s pre-k son Braylen received an end-of-the-year award from his teacher in Batesville, Mississippi, leaving Ellis speechless. — Braylen was given a “Monkey Award…for entertaining others.” When Braylen came home excitedly showing off his award, Ellis was “angry” at the teacher’s choice of an accolade for her son.

“He was excited about the award, but he had no idea what he was holding,” Ellis told Action News 5. “It’s unacceptable for me,” she said.

“We wasn’t happy about it,” Ellis said. “I’m still not happy about it. I’m angry because I don’t understand why my son got the monkey award when had received an award that he completed Pre-K,” she added.

Unhappy with what her son bestowed, Ellis contacted the South Panola school district, but with no response from faculty or staff after six days and several calls, the Batesville mother contacted Action News 5 for further assistance in her quest for answers.

When Ellis finally met with Panola district official and Batesville Elementary School principal Amy Sutton, it was explained to Ellis that Braylens award was for his “energy” and that the teacher wasn’t aware of the synonymy between the history and African Americans being compared to monkeys.

“She stated that the teacher stated that she gave him the award for his energy,” Ellis said. “But the award doesn’t say anything about energy; it says ‘entertainment,” she said. Sutton, who is Black told Ellis previous to the incident that there was a meeting held with teachers prompting them to avoid handing out awards that would raise concerns.

“She stated that she had a meeting with them and instructed them to not pass out any awards that would be offensive or raise a red flag, but they did it anyway,” Ellis said. Ellis says they also told her an animal-themed award ceremony had taken place in Braylen’s class the day he received his “monkey award.”

Sutton apologized to Ellis, claiming that the Braylens incident should have been addressed immediately and award ceremonies such as this one would be stopped.

“These teachers have messed up,” Ellis said. “They were wrong. The superintendent knew they were wrong. The principal knew they were wrong. They need to be held accountable for what they have done,” she added.

It is unclear how many other Batesville students have received offensive awards.

Filed Under: Articles, Strategic Research & Analysis

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

More to See

Peter Obi most emotional speech

July 24, 2022 By AFRIPOL

I’m not opposed to Peter Obi’s presidential ambition: Umahi

July 24, 2022 By Admin

RSS AllAfrica News: Latest

  • Kenya: Prosecution or Compensation? What Kenyan Choices Tell Us About International Justice
    [The Conversation Africa] In December 2007, the Electoral Commission of Kenya announced that Mwai Kibaki had won a second five-year term as president. It was a surprising outcome, given his opponent, Raila Odinga, had held a significant early lead in the polls.
  • South Africa: Lilian Ngoyi - an Heroic South African Woman Whose Story Hasn't Been Fully Told
    [The Conversation Africa] Despite her key role in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, details about Lilian Ngoyi's life remain sparse. The short paragraphs on her legacy repeat a few well-worn phrases. South Africa's "mother of the black resistance", a widow and rumoured lover of Nelson Mandela, and the first woman member of the […]
  • South Africa: Cele Commends R400 Million Cocaine Bust
    [SAnews.gov.za] Police Minister, Bheki Cele, has commended the recent arrest of three men for the possession of a cocaine consignment valued at R400 million in the Western Cape.
  • South Africa: Women Challenged to Find Solutions to Climate Change
    [SAnews.gov.za] South African women have been challenged to take part in conversations aimed at finding solutions to mitigate the impact of climate change.
  • Sudan: Chad-Sudan Clashes Leave 27 Dead, 36 Injured
    [Dabanga] Khartoum / Bir Saliba -- The Chadian joint forces expressed their regret over last week's incidents surrounding clashes between Sudanese herdsman and armed Chadian groups, which according to them has left 27 dead and 36 injured in the Bir Saliba area of West Darfur.
  • Kenya: Bobi Wine, Besigye Among Election Observers
    [Capital FM] Nairobi -- Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, the leader of Uganda's National Unity Platform (NUP), and Kizza Besigye of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) are in Kenya as part of Tuesday's election observation teams.

Tags

Achebe Africa Anambra Boko Haram Buhari CBN Corona Virus Egypt Igbo IMF Inflation Jonathan Kenya Nigeria Okonjo Iweala Peter Obi Sanusi Senate Soludo South Africa Soyinka United States
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Archives

Footer

Africa Political and Economic Strategic Center, AFRIPOL is foremost a public policy center whose fundamental objective is to broaden the parameters of public policy debates in Africa. To advocate, promote and encourage free enterprise, democracy, sustainable green environment, human rights, conflict resolutions, transparency and probity in Africa.

Recent

  • Democracy is about choice – Julius Malema (video)
  • Tyler Perry to Duchess of Sussex: ‘It fills me with joy to say Happy Birthday Princess Meghan’
  • Nigeria is Bankrupt. ‘Between 2015 and now, we have been digging ourselves into a deeper hole.’ – Sanusi, ex-CBN Chief
  • Nigeria and the politics we play!
  • Benin’s President unveils 30m statue of Amazon woman warrior in Cotonou

Search

Tags

Achebe Africa Anambra Boko Haram Buhari CBN Corona Virus Egypt Igbo IMF Inflation Jonathan Kenya Nigeria Okonjo Iweala Peter Obi Sanusi Senate Soludo South Africa Soyinka United States

Copyright © 2022 · AFRIPOL