Thursday, August 8, 2019

INDEX

Vol. CXXVIII, No. 121
 © 2019 The Michigan Daily 

NEWS ....................................
OPINION ............................... 
ARTS......................................
MiC.........................................
SPORTS................................

MICHIGAN IN COLOR
‘On Punjab’

Harnoor Singh shares his 

pride on being Punjabi and 

the lasting effects of coloniza-

tion and Indian nationalism 

 
 >> SEE PAGE 9

NEWS
Car show

Sixth annual event for hos-

pitalized kids takes place on 

roof of C.S. Mott 
 

 
 >> SEE PAGE 2

OPINION
Pleasure reading

Erin White explores the 

importance of and need 

for prioritizing reading for 

pleasure

 
 >> SEE PAGE 4

ARTS
‘The Farewell’

Lulu Wang’s latest is a 

heartwrenching tale of 

beauty and sorrow, grief 

and nostalgia
 >> SEE PAGE 6

SPORTS
Football

Early impressions from 

Michigan’s fall football 

camp

 
 >> SEE PAGE 12

inside

2
4
6
9
10

Thousands flock 
to Kerrytown for 
annual celebration

Ann 
Arbor 
Pride’s 
25th 
anniversary was celebrated in 
Kerrytown with performances, 
vendors 
and 
kid-friendly 
activities over the weekend.
There 
was 
yoga, 
belly 
dancing, a street fair, poetry 
slam and a performance by AJA 
from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” 
throughout the day Saturday. 
On 
Sunday, 
JuJubee, 
also 
from “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” 
hosted Pride Bingo Brunch at 
Blue Llama Jazz Club and a 
Pride Picnic that took place in 
Wheeler Park. 
Among the attendees were 
members and supporters of 
the LGBTQ+ community, from 
people who have just started 
their identity journey to people 
who have been fighting for equal 
rights for years. Joe Schoch, 
co-director of Ann Arbor Pride, 
reaffirmed how the festival 
achieved that goal this year by 
planning a plethora of age and 
gender-inclusive activities and 
performances. 

“It’s really important for us to 
be sure that Pride is inclusive for 
everybody,” Schoch said. “Ours 
is 
very 
community-centric, 
and we try to do a little bit of 
everything for everybody.”
The 
proceeds 
from 
the 
festival will benefit the Jim 
Toy Community Center, an 
LGBTQ+ resource center in 
the Washtenaw County area. 
Cadence Cartier, drag queen 
performer 
with 
Boylesque, 
noted the importance of Jim 
Toy’s work.
“The 
services 
that 
they 
provide really do help our 
youth, really help give them 
the support that they need 
when they don’t have support,” 
Cartier said. 
In addition to the performers, 
booths 
selling 
merchandise, 
promoting political campaigns 
and giving away items were 
set up close to the main stage. 
One of the booths was run by 
an organization called Free 
Mom Hugs, a non-profit group 
of affirming allies and parents 
aimed 
to 
spread 
love 
and 
acceptance. 
Arleta 
Greer, 
co-lead 
of 
the 
organization’s 
Michigan 
chapter, described the hardships 
faced by many LGBTQ+ youth.
“So many of our younger 
generation 
in 
the 
LGBTQ+ 
community is struggling with 

being accepted at home, or being 
accepted at school,” Greer said. 
“Sometimes, this is the only 
parental hug they’ve gotten in 
days or weeks.”
Alongside Free Mom Hugs, 
there 
were 
also 
numerous 
support 
and 
mental 
health 
organizations. A 2015 report by 
GLSEN on the National School 
Climate Survey found that 85 
percent of LGBTQ+ students 
have 
experienced 
verbal 
harassment and 27 percent have 
been physically harassed due to 
their sexual orientation. 
Rackham student Lindsey 
Beaver said she recently began 
identifying as bisexual, and 
shared her experience with 
discovering herself. 
“(Your identity) is a huge 
part of your daily experience, 
your interactions with other 
people,” Beaver said. “I found 
that when I started realizing 
that I wasn’t straight, it was like 
this whole thing wasn’t locked 
inside me where all of a sudden 
I could love people more. All 
of a sudden, I feel a lot more 
comfortable.”
Drawing 
from 
her 
own 
experience, Beaver emphasized 
the 
importance 
of 
Pride 
festivals and celebrating gender 
identity. 

Principal files 
lawsuit against 
school district

Shannon Blick alleges 
‘reverse discrimination’ 
at AAPS’ Lawton
Elementary School

Shannon Blick, former principal 
of Ann Arbor Public School District’s 
Lawton Elementary School, is alleging 
the district ousted her in an act of 
“reverse discrimination,”according to 
her lawsuit against the school.
On May 1, Dawn Linden, Ann Arbor 
Public Schools executive director of 
Elementary Education, sent out a letter 
to the parents of students at Lawton 
Elementary School, reporting that Blick 
was on a temporary leave of absence. 
With no formal reason provided or a 
specified time length, Dottie Davis, 
former Huron High School athletic 
director 
and 
assistant 
principal, 
assumed the role as “guest principal.”
Two months later, Blick, with aid from 
Ann Arbor attorney William Tishkoff, 
filed a $5 million lawsuit against Ann 
Arbor Public Schools. Superintendent 
Jeanice Swift, in line with other 
administrators and the AAPS School 
Board, attributed her termination to 
“reverse discrimination.” In addition to 
financial compensation, Blick is asking 
to be reinstated as principal of Lawton 
Elementary.
Blick claims the AAPS board and 
their 
key 
administrators 
“subject 
white administrators to hostility and 
harassment in the workplace based on 
their race; accelerate the promotion 
and advancement of African American 
and minority administrators at the 
expense and to the detriment of 
white administrators and refuse to 
‘reasonably and properly investigate’ 
and take remedial action for, ‘reverse 
discrimination’ workplace complaints,” 
per her lawsuit.
Tishkoff declined to interview on 
record, but pointed The Daily to online 
reports for further information.

ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Read more at michigandaily.com

SAMANTHA SMALL
Summer News Editor

Read more at michigandaily.com

michigandaily.com

Community celebrates love, 
acceptance at Ann Arbor Pride

PHOTO COURTESY OF JIM TOY COMMUNITY CENTER
Vistitors walk through the exhibitor area during Ann Arbor Pride in Ann Arbor Saturday.

FRANCESCA DUONG
Daily Staff Reporter

