12-Year-Old Girl Nearly Disqualified from Swimming Competition for Wearing Black Lives Matter Swim Suit
- Twelve-year-old Leidy Gallona was temporarily disqualified from a Wisconsin swim meet for wearing a Black Lives Matter suit
- Gallona's disqualification was soon reversed after a candid intervention from her mother Sarah Lyons to reinstate her in the race
- According to Lyon, her daughter is very passionate about social justice since she has been through a lot at a young age
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A 12-year-old swimmer, Leidy Gallona, was nearly disqualified from pool competition for wearing a Black Lives Matter swimsuit.
Source: UGC
Daily Mail reported that it took the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to step in and force officials to reverse their decision.
Honouring death of Amir Locke
Sarah Lyons said her daughter wore the swimsuit in the wake of Amir Locke's death and because the Black Lives Matter movement is important to her as a black woman.
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According to the event organisers, the bathing suit went against USA Swimming's policy that bans political language.
Gallona gets second chance
Gallona would have been allowed to change into another suit but her disqualification was soon reversed by the officials.
Sponsors of the event quickly overturned her disqualification and banned the volunteer race official who disqualified the young athlete.
A post showing Leidy in her statement swimsuit has since gone viral with celebrities calling to encourage the young athlete.
Black woman and grandmother of 13 marks her 104th birthday
In a separate article published on YEN.com.gh Winnell Cunningham Shaw, a Stone Mountain woman, marked her 104th birthday with enthusiasm and excitement with her neighbours in her community.
Born on January 7, 1918, at Lawrenceville, Georgia, Shaw has lived through many historic moments few could experience.
At 12, she moved to Atlanta, where she attended the largest Africa-American public elementary school, Ashby Street Elementary.
She relocated to Atlanta in 1930 after the demise of her mother and aunt.
Shaw achieved another milestone when she graduated from Booker T. Washington High School, the first public high school for African Americans in the state and the Atlanta Public Schools system.
The grandmother of 13 retired as a seamstress and has taken up Gin Rummy and drawing.
Source: YEN.com.gh
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