Cedar Rapids students who brought Black Lives Matter demands to school board will not stop fighting

Cedar Rapids students who brought Black Lives Matter demands to school board will not stop fighting for equity


CEDAR RAPIDS — Twin sisters who have advocated for removing school resource officers from the Cedar Rapids district and for classes to include more Black history, literature and art are proud of themselves for speaking up for equity, but are ready to leave behind “racial trauma” they say they experienced in the school system after they graduated last week from Kennedy High School.

Raafa and Rahma Elsheikh, 18, graduated Thursday after a year of navigating a pandemic and civil unrest fueled by the death of George Floyd, whose murder at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked protests globally.

The Elsheikh sisters have been advocating for racial justice since they were students at Franklin Middle School, along with their older sister, Afnan, who graduated from Kennedy High School in 2017. Afnan staged a school demonstration the day after President Donald Trump was elected in 2016. Students carried handmade signs declaring a stance against discrimination.

Rahma and Raafa took their sister’s lead when they got to Kennedy High, and say they were able to “build on her achievements.”

Read more: https://www.thegazette.com/k/cedar-rapids-students-who-brought-black-lives-matter-demands-to-school-board-will-not-stop-fighting/
(Cedar Rapids Gazette)