Latest news with #MartinLutherKingHighSchool
CBS News
5 days ago
- Lifestyle
- CBS News
Philadelphia nonprofit donates new suits to graduating seniors at MLK High School
Wednesday was a powerful day of encouragement and empowerment at Martin Luther King High School in Philadelphia. The Men of Germantown, a local nonprofit, hosted its annual "Suit Up Initiative," a program designed to equip students with more than just clothing, but also confidence for the future. Each participating student received a brand-new suit, tailored to help them feel prepared as they step into life after graduation. Mentors, educators and volunteers walked the halls with the young men and women, offering guidance, affirmations and a strong show of community support. The day culminated in a moving scholarship presentation. Sixteen graduating seniors were awarded $500 scholarships, giving them a financial boost as they prepare for college, trade programs, or career pursuits. Additionally, 10 students were named "Men Who Care" Ambassadors, each receiving a $100 award in recognition of their leadership, character and commitment to excellence. Organizers say the goal is simple: to help students walk boldly into their next chapter — suited up, supported and seen.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Photo Essay: A transgender high school athlete navigates a fight she never asked for
On the morning the Trump administration threw its weight behind a local lawsuit challenging California rules that allowed her to compete on her high school track and field team, Abi had more pressing concerns. The 17-year-old transgender athlete was graduating that evening from Martin Luther King High School in Riverside. Her competing in girls' hurdles had kicked up protests, and she was nervously planning one last act of high school rebellion. "The [school administration] was not allowing students to bring anything except their phones, and they were searching us before," she said, referring to the graduation ceremony. "So I had to smuggle contraband into a high-profile event with the risk of losing my diploma that I worked so hard to get this year." Hours later, Abi whipped out a small transgender flag. As she walked across the graduation stage in her cap and gown, she waved it above her head despite being terrified that doing so would land her in trouble. "I have always loved running, I've been doing it as long as I can remember." She also knew from months of fighting for her right to compete that many people in the crowd disagreed with her on transgender rights, and some were outwardly hostile. But she didn't flinch. It was a milestone moment for a transgender teen who dealt with — and survived — a modern American political gantlet because she "didn't have much of a choice." "No one asked me if I had the mental strength or not before they sued California over me or before they sent hundreds of students to protest against me all day," Abi said. "I just figured everything out on the go.' Since writing about and photographing Abi for a February story, The Times has followed her closely to capture what life is like for a teenager caught in the middle of that debate. In February, she asked to remain anonymous given the threats to transgender athletes. But now, along with her mother, Abi agreed to have the resulting photographs, and her name, published here. Even though just days have passed since another transgender athlete — AB Hernandez — drew protests at California's high school track and field championships. Abi did not qualify to compete. Transgender activism "was never something I was planning on doing," Abi said, "but I'm a fighter." "My experience on the track team was actually pretty good. I was friends with all the girls on my team." "No one asked me if I had the mental strength or not before they sued California over me or before they sent hundreds of students to protest against me all day, I just figured everything out on the go.' Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
03-06-2025
- General
- Los Angeles Times
Photo Essay: A transgender high school athlete navigates a fight she never asked for
On the morning the Trump administration threw its weight behind a local lawsuit challenging California rules that allowed her to compete on her high school track and field team, Abi had more pressing concerns. The 17-year-old transgender athlete was graduating that evening from Martin Luther King High School in Riverside. Her competing in girls' hurdles had kicked up protests, and she was nervously planning one last act of high school rebellion. 'The [school administration] was not allowing students to bring anything except their phones, and they were searching us before,' she said, referring to the graduation ceremony. 'So I had to smuggle contraband into a high-profile event with the risk of losing my diploma that I worked so hard to get this year.' Hours later, Abi whipped out a small transgender flag. As she walked across the graduation stage in her cap and gown, she waved it above her head despite being terrified that doing so would land her in trouble. She also knew from months of fighting for her right to compete that many people in the crowd disagreed with her on transgender rights, and some were outwardly hostile. But she didn't flinch. It was a milestone moment for a transgender teen who dealt with — and survived — a modern American political gantlet because she 'didn't have much of a choice.' 'No one asked me if I had the mental strength or not before they sued California over me or before they sent hundreds of students to protest against me all day,' Abi said. 'I just figured everything out on the go.' Since writing about and photographing Abi for a February story, The Times has followed her closely to capture what life is like for a teenager caught in the middle of that debate. In February, she asked to remain anonymous given the threats to transgender athletes. But now, along with her mother, Abi agreed to have the resulting photographs, and her name, published here. Even though just days have passed since another transgender athlete — AB Hernandez — drew protests at California's high school track and field championships. Abi did not qualify to compete. Transgender activism 'was never something I was planning on doing,' Abi said, 'but I'm a fighter.'
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Detroit prom send off turns chaotic when shots ring out near MLK High School
The Brief A Detroit high school's prom sendoff turned terrifying for students after shots rang out on the city's west side. Approximately 20 rounds were fired near MLK Senior High at a time when students were taking pictures. Detroit police are now searching for a person-of-interest who was caught on security footage. DETROIT (FOX 2) - High school students gussied up in their dresses and suits were celebrating their prom at a Detroit high school when shots rang out. Police are now looking for the man accused of firing approximately 20 rounds on Detroit's east side. What we know An individual fired approximately 20 rounds near a Detroit high school early Thursday evening. No one was injured, but dozens of students getting ready for their senior prom were sent fleeing. It happened in the 3200 block of E. Lafayette, near Martin Luther King High School around 8:30 p.m. Police are searching for a Black male who was wearing a white zip-up, identifying him as a person-of-interest. Local perspective Davon Hall was among those near the school when shots rang out. He said the scene was "hectic, scary" and chaotic with kids running in different directions. Kids flying out of here in all type of cars, traffic everywhere. Police just sitting there," he said. "It was a secure area but it turned crazy like a movie real quick." Hall was taking photos and videos of the students decked out in suits and dresses, readying up for prom, when the shots rang out. "I recorded just instantly and I start seeing the kids running around and following them. I was trying to be as aware as I could," he said. He was left dejected by the picture the tarrying scene painted for the area. "We are not like this. King high school has been elevated and has been bringing nothing but good news to the community. This is something that is so depressing," said Hall. Dig deeper Maurice Hardwick, who goes by Pastor Mo and frequently commentates on community violence and the impact it has on young people, echoed Hall's sentiment. "When bullets fly people die. We can't have a shooting around a school, around a prom, around a graduation - anything like that," Hardwick said. "You didn't deserve to be scared like that, you didn't deserve to have bullets ring out on your one night of celebration like that." Hardwick works with Living Peace Movement. He said more mentorship is needed to stamp out the kind of gun violence that rang out Thursday evening. "Celebrate and keep on achieving and use this as a tool to say 'I'm not going to be involved in violence,'" he said. What you can do Police are searching for the individual and want anyone who was in the area at the time to give them a call. They may also ring Crime Stoppers at 1-800 Speak Up. The Source Interviews with witnesses and video of the scene was used while reporting this story.
Fox News
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
California girl opens up on fighting legal and political battle over trans athletes after life-changing pain
Taylor Starling still remembers the day her life changed. On Oct. 22, she was dropped from the varsity cross-country team down to the junior varsity squad at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California. Her spot was taken by a trans athlete. "I felt angry when I was removed from my varsity team because I knew the requirements were changed for him because he is transgender. I felt like my sacrifice, hard work, and dedication didn't matter to my school administrators because I am a girl. It was easy for them to push me aside and that hurt," Starling told Fox News Digital. "As far as coping with it, my family and friends have been very supportive. I also know that everything happens for a reason and God has a plan for me. I always try to find the good when things are hard and keep going." Now, just five months and two weeks later, at 16 years old, she has much more on her plate than just practice and homework. She spoke at the California Capitol building in Sacramento in support of two state bills to ban trans athletes from girls' sports, braving pro-trans protesters rallying against the bills. Her lawsuit against her school district and California Attorney General Rob Bonta has its first court date of May 15. She is the centerpiece of a monthslong movement within her school and community in which students show up every Wednesday wearing "Save Girls Sports" T-shirts, overpowering administrative efforts to prevent it. However, it has not been all wins for her and her family. Her testimony could not convince the Democrat majority to support the two bills to ban trans athletes. Her mother, a local public school teacher, faces the uncertainty of her school and others across California potentially losing federal funding as the state refuses to comply with President Donald Trump's executive order to keep males out of girls' sports. In March, Starling had to watch her sister, Abby Starling, lose a 200m race to the same trans athlete that took her varsity spot in the fall. Additionally, the attention she has received for her activism over the last few months has come with some harder moments. "Social media is pretty bad," her father, Ryan Starling, told Fox News Digital. "You have 99 positive comments, and then you get that one comment that has called her a bigot, has called her the 'C' word, has called her all kinds of names." Her family was prepared for the backlash when they signed up for the fight, as they were warned by their attorney, Robert Tyler. "When we took this case on, we had a real heart-to-heart," Tyler told Fox News Digital. "I asked Taylor and Kaitlyn 'are you prepared to deal with this? Are you going to be able to walk through the hallways in her school and dislike you, call you names, and call you out?' And they were." The family entered the trans athlete culture war in November, when they filed a lawsuit against the Riverside Unified School District alongside her friend and teammate Kaitlyn Slavin. They later expanded the lawsuit to include Bonta in February, in protest of the current laws in California that enable trans inclusion. It is a lawsuit that Tyler and the families involved hope sets a new precedent for gender eligibility in the state once it goes to trial on May 15, as the state legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom refuse to bring changes, risking federal funding cuts to the state. In California, a law called AB 1266 has been in effect since 2014, giving California students at scholastic and collegiate levels the right to "participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil's records." This law and the state's devotion to carrying it out has already prompted pushback from the Trump administration. Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent a formal warning at the end of March to Newsom and the rest of the state, suggesting federal funding may be cut to the state if it continues to enable trans inclusion in girls' sports. The Starlings and other California families are witnessing in real time a potential model for what could soon happen to them playing out across the country in Maine. That state has taken the stage as "ground zero" in the trans athlete conflict, as its reluctance to comply with Trump has already resulted in a funding freeze from the USDA last week, and more potential sanctions this week. "Good," Ryan Starling said in response to seeing the situation in Maine, knowing the same could soon play out in his state. "That's the only thing they answer to, is when their funding is cut and when it actually affects their pocketbooks, that's the only thing that will get it to change. "Unfortunately, it might have a little bit of a tough road on some of the teachers, but our teachers are resilient." Taylor Starling did her part to help avoid this when she lobbied in Sacramento last week, delivering her story in support of the bills AB 89 and AB 844. Both bills would have banned trans athletes from girls' sports across the state and put California in compliance with Trump's executive order. Instead, the bills failed to pass, and Democrat Assemblymember Rick Zbur compared them to Nazi Germany practices. For Taylor Starling, it was a comparison she was able to stomach more than the others in the room because, according to her lawsuit, the school administrators at Martin Luther King High compared her "Save Girls Sports" T-shirts to swastikas back in November. "I've already been called that by the athletic director, so by now, I'm kind of used to it. But it was a shock to everyone else, because he was also calling everyone else Nazis. So I think that caused a big reaction from everybody and they were more willing to speak up against that," she said. "It was very sad to see Democrat leadership in California was unable to stand up for us girls and the rights that we deserve." So, Taylor and her father had to leave Sacramento and go back home to Riverside without any progress in significant legislative change. Now they look ahead to their first court date. Tyler said that in this case, they are seeking to have the court review the current California law that enables trans inclusion in girls' sports, and potentially rule that the law is a violation of Title IX. "We want to challenge that and argue that it is simply a violation of Title IX, that it's unlawful, and we're hoping that the court will look at that and throw it out," Tyler said. "We want this case to stand for the proposition that it's time to take our schools back, it's time to take our girls' sports back, it's time to take back common sense." The Starling family, the Slavin family and Tyler will look to take a step toward achieving a landmark ruling on the issue on May 15. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
