Rally Held For Teen Incarcerated For Not Doing Homework

OAKLAND COUNTY, MI — The Michigan Liberation Action Fund rallied Monday morning ahead of a court hearing for a 15-year-old girl who was sent to a juvenile detention center for not completing online homework.

The group held a news conference to demand the release of the student, who Oakland County Judge Mary Ellen Brennan said had violated her probation when she did not complete homework assigned to her.

“We must dismantle this school to prison pipeline,” Tylene Henry, who protested the 15-year-old’s incarceration earlier in the day, said during the news conference.

The teen, 15-year-old Black girl whose identity has not been released but who has been referred to as ‘Grace,' was on probation after she was charged with assault in 2019. Weeks later, she was charged with larceny.

Read More: 15-Year-Old Girl Incarcerated For Not Doing Homework

Vivian Anderson, the executive director and founder of Every Black Girl, Inc., said ‘Grace’ was being treated unfairly due to her race and that the issue goes beyond Oakland County.

“We’re criminalizing Black children for adolescent behavior that’s accepted in other communities as a way of life,” she said. “This is their aging process because we understand child development. But the thing is, we refuse to see black children as children, so I’m here and I’ll be here and I’ll be wherever we need to be because injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.”

Local, state and national communities have expressed outrage over the detention of the girl.

Grace was placed in the juvenile facility in May after failing to complete class assignments from Groves High School in Beverly Hills after the school switched to online learning due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The judge ruled that the girl failed to submit schoolwork, and did not get up for school.

On May 14, Brennan ordered Grace to Children’s Village Detention Center in Pontiac.

After Grace's story was published on July 14 in a joint effort by ProPublica, The Detroit Free Press and Bridge Magazine, public pressure mounted for her release.

Michigan Liberation Action Fund and other community organizations have held several protests demanding accountability. Grace's attorney filed a motion to review the case. The review is scheduled for Monday.