Autum Ashante

In the NY Post:

YOUNGSTER'S BLACK-POWER POEM RILES SCHOOL
A 7-year-old prodigy unleashed a firestorm when she recited a poem she wrote comparing Christopher Columbus and Charles Darwin to "pirates" and "vampires" who robbed blacks of their identities and human rights.
Hundreds of parents of Peekskill middle- and high-school students received a recorded phone message last week apologizing for little Autum Ashante's poem, titled "White Nationalism Put U in Bondage."

Blowing up the blogosphere: Level Head, Moonbattery, Red Guy Blue State, Ace of Spades HQ,
Word is Bond, Gawker, One Brotha's Mind, No Dhmimmitude, Narcissistic Views on News/Politics and I saw it originally on Fluffy Dollars.

(I don't endorse these views, I just think it's fascinating to see what people are saying.)

I don't think this kid should have been banned or anything like that, in fact, I don't think kids' creativity should be stifled in any way unless absolutely necessary. I especially don't think it makes sense to do so publicly. That said, there's something distinctly irritating about this kid. Not because I disagree with her exactly (I mean, it's a bit shrill, but I think the underlying message is pretty true, and she's seven) but because she seems like such a precocious little brat. Her and her four languages and well-travelled-ness and smug little photo. Is that evil of me?

Edited to add: Yeah, it kind of is evil of me. I mean, I remember being the kid who had my views censored all the time because they were feminist or queer. I have such an aversion to elitism that I pinned it on this kid, when it wad actually the press coverage that felt the need to assert her many languages, etc, just so you didn't think she was just another uppity Negro- this kid's a "prodigy"! So, rather than hating on Autum Ashante, I should be hating on the media.