Yale honours black girl wrongly reported to police

By Uke Samuel   1 year ago   118
World - Top Stories

Bobbi Wilson, 9, has donated 27 spotted lanternflies from her personal collection to Yale's Peabody Museum

Three months after a neighbour called the police on her for catching insects, nine-year-old Bobbi Wilson has earned honours from Yale University for her scientific prowess.

Bobbi, a black girl from New Jersey, was spraying her neighbourhood with bug spray to kill invasive lanternflies when police approached her.

The incident has prompted a discussion on racial profiling in the US.

Bobbi's lanternflies will now be housed at the prestigious university.

Known as "Bobbi Wonder" by her family and friends, the little girl was recognised for her efforts in combating the invasive insect in her hometown by Yale's School of Public Health.

Last month, she visited the university where a label bearing her name on one of the lanternfly specimens will sit permanently in Yale's Peabody Museum.

"Yale doesn't normally do anything like this … this is something unique to Bobbi," said Ijeoma Opara, an assistant professor at School of Public Health.

"We wanted to show her bravery and how inspiring she is, and we just want to make sure she continues to feel honoured and loved by the Yale community."

It was her second time visiting the Ivy League campus, Ms Opara said. She was first invited to the school in November after a police complaint against her made headlines.

On 22 October, a neighbour had reported Bobbi to the police as a suspicious person while she was out obliterating lanternflies using a homemade repellent of water, dish soap and apple cider vinegar - a recipe she found on Tik Tok.

The neighbour reported her as "a little black woman walking, spraying stuff on the sidewalks and trees", according to a recording of the call obtained by CNN.

Spotted lanternflies are invasive insects that can hurt trees and ruin crops. Last year, scientists and state authorities encouraged people to kill the bugs, whenever and wherever they found them, and also advised people to destroy their eggs.

Bobbi's mother, Monique Joseph, said the complaint was an example of racial profiling and that the neighbour had put her daughter in harm's way by calling the police on her.

[NewsNaira]


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Good luck my dear


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Olayinka Toyin
1 year ago

That's good baby girl. Keep it up.


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Kayode Matthew
1 year ago

Good job girl, keep it up


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