Grace is a teen like many others. She lives in Michigan and was trying her best to finish out the school year online.
But her name isn’t actually Grace. That’s how she has to be identified since she’s underage - and was locked up. The bizarre way she got there led to a nationwide outcry.
Grace was on probation after fighting with her mom. Then, when she didn’t complete her online homework, the unthinkable happened.
Judge Mary Ellen Brennan sent her to juvenile detention - during a pandemic! Now people are outraged.
Grace has ADHD and is on a special education plan. Doing coursework online is difficult for any student - but ADHD makes it EXTREMELY hard. Grace is just one of many struggling students, but she’s also Black - and that might be why this happened.
Black girls like Grace experience widespread discrimination that starts as early as preschool. Black girls are suspended at extremely high rates. Maybe that’s why the judge told her, “you are exactly where you are supposed to be.” We refuse to accept that as justification!
A movement has now helped free Grace. Incarceration is NOT an answer to problems Black kids are having in school, especially during the pandemic. At a time when monumental work is happening to reject the school-to-prison pipeline, what Grace’s case means can’t be ignored.