Who is Novalee? Minneapolis girl, 9, slams school board for BLM, Amanda Gorman ‘political’ posters
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Nine-year-old Novalee has come into the limelight for berating her school board for banning political posters from campuses, and yet displaying Black Lives Matter images on the wall. The student spoke at the Lakeville Area School Board meeting on June 8. Lakeville is the same city where George Floyd was murdered in May last year, whose death paved way for one of the biggest human rights movements across the world.
According to Novalee, the board had said: "No BLM or politics in school" on May 25, the anniversary of Floyd's death. Addressing the board on June 8, she said, "I was walking down the hallway at Lakeview Elementary School to give a teacher a retiring gift. I looked up onto the wall and saw a BLM poster and an Amanda Gorman poster." She added, "In case you don't know who that chick is, she's some girl who did a poem at Biden's so-called inauguration."
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Amanda Gorman, 23, is an American poet and activist, who was the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate. Her work focuses on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization. Novalee continued, "I was so mad. I was told two weeks ago at this very meeting spot: no politics in school. I believed what you said at this meeting." She then mentioned that she marched up to the principal, at lunch, and told him what she had seen and that "she wanted it down." The principal explained to her that it could not be removed, because it was installed by the school board.
Novalee further said that she was "stunned", and raised an objection to the posters in her school. "We all understand the meaning. It is a political message about getting rid of police officers, rioting, burning buildings down while king Governor Waltz just sits on his throne and watches." She added, "You expect me to believe that you did not know what you were doing by making these posters? Come on, people."
Novalee further mentioned that she strongly disagreed with BLM's ideology, which, according to her, made people racist and was against Martin Luther King's teachings. "I do not judge people by the color of their skin. I don't really care what color their hair, skin, or eyes is. I judge by the way they treat me. MLK said I have a dream that one day my four little children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character, that dream has come true. I do not care or look at the color of skin, but you make me think of it," she said. Novalee concluded her speech by saying, "You have lied to me and I am very disappointed in all of you. You cannot even follow your own rules. Get the posters out of our schools. Courage is contagious so be courageous." Novalee's video was watched over 40,000 times.
This is not the first account of school board meetings being in the headlines. In recent months, in many such instances, parents have attacked boards over what they say are racist and divisive critical race theory lessons.