Mehqueena had been coming home all week frustrated and all her confidence in school system gone.. She had been harassed in class by two girls whom had been filming her and posting up rude comments about her. When Queena tried to tell staff at the school what was going on, she was made to feel as if she was the instigator and that the possibility of her being bullied by these particular girls was farfetched. She was made to feel like if these girls did not like her it was because of something she had done.
At her wits’ end, Queena became angry and declared that she will defend herself if no teacher nor staff will do an intervention. Meeting after meeting, the staff at Everett Middle School’s attempt to deal with the situation failed miserably. The alleged bullies were being praised more than disciplined and one staff “took sides” with them enabling them with more power, one girl because of her “beauty and popularity”.
It was impossible for Queena to concentrate at school, and she even asked if she could be moved away from the same classroom as these girls but to no avail. She even asked could she do all her assignments in the office, but as hard as the 12 year old tried to remove herself from this issue, Everett staff did not accommodate Queena at all. Instead Everett staff insisted that Queena was the problem and she was treated like an angry, black criminal that did not have the same rights at the school as the other children. Meaning throughout the whole time Queena was punished for reacting to her bullies’ actions. There is no way that a beautiful popular latino girl could bully a 12 year old black girl. Really? So what does a bully look like?
“The adults at Everett were bias towards me, they made me feel like a nigger.” Queena shared with POOR Magazine.
Queena’s anger caught the attention of the staff but not as a child who was fed up with being bullied but more like the angry black child who fits the description of being the bully herself.
“When I got upset and said that I will fight my bullies back because no one would do anything, I was punished by suspension. I had to fight back for my safety. They called my mother every day because of something that they “heard” from the other girls that did not like me. I didn’t have to be at school and I was being put into some mess that did not have anything to do with me. I do not like that school. They tried to break my spirit by being unfair but my mother supports me” Queena said in a coy tone.
She fortunately no longer goes to Everett Middle school after being pushed out. Queena was so fed up with Everett staff letting her down that she stopped going to school altogether for a brief time.
“I saw this coming a mile away, that Everett allowed for Queena to catch hell at their school then they failed her. Queena wanted to be at school and she was upset that she was not able to do her finals at school. Instead she was labeled a drop out troublemaker and sent to 44 Gough street and all the while the alleged bullies continued to go to Everett uninterrupted and allowed to bully on another girl, Queena’s cousin Daione. So I removed Daione from that school, too.”
After going down to 555 Franklin street several times to file a complaint and to get a safety transfer for my daughter. Not only did the alleged bullies call some high school girls up to Everett to fight Queena, but the ultimate slap in the face was when I complained about the school being bias because the accused bullies were latino , the man behind the desk, that shares similar culture with the girls hurriedly dismissed the “bias” saying “no, no, no we are NOT going to go with the bias. Just the high school girls coming to the school for your daughter.”
He wants us to act like the bias experience never happened. I don’t think so. We are going to tackle this whole issue that puts children of color against each other in the first place, right along with the intentional miseducation. As a POOR Magazine advocate I don’t know how to feel when I am related to everyone. It is hurtful when you are hated for no reason. Then this has to be explained to children such as Queena, who hurts just as much because she didn’t understand how the staff would smile and act like they care but their actions, no matter how cleverly hidden showed otherwise. What does a bully look like?
Queena is a former student of DeeColonize academy and is educated in political science. She has written stories on racism, gentrification and poverty and she is a popular dancer. Queena is feisty and will call out any wrongdoing and owns up to her mistakes. She was taught not to bully and to speak up when something is wrong. Queena said that how she was treated at Everett Middle school was wrong and she felt left behind.
Queena is right.