Even though Chelesa Fearce (pictured) was homeless for most of her high school years, the young dynamo will still manage to graduate high school with honors on Thursday as its star student and the class valedictorian, reports WSBTV.

SEE ALSO: Teachers Credited With Saving Students In Okla.

During Fearce’s high school years, her and her family experienced multiple evictions because her mother, Reenita Shephard, had unsteady employment. 

Consequently, Fearce would often find herself having to read books in the dark with just her cell phone light illuminating the pages at local shelters. Fearce told WSBTV, “I just told myself to keep working, because the future will not be like this anymore,” she said. “You’re worried about your home life and then worried at school.”

But sometimes the shelters became too much, so that’s when the Clayton County, Ga., youth, Shephard; and her three siblings lived in their car.

Yet the experience didn’t stop Fearce, who also nailed her SAT’s with an impressive score of 1900 out of 2400, from achieving a GPA of 4.466. Her academic success empowered her to enroll in college courses for her last two years of high school, meaning when Fearce enters the prestigious Atlanta-based Spelman College in the fall, she will begin as a college junior.

Fearce’s success is especially significant when one considers that she maintained her stellar grades while dealing with hunger, “[You] worry about being a little hungry sometimes, [so you] go hungry sometimes. You just have to deal with it. You eat what you can, when you can.”

And Fearce isn’t the only shining star in her family; her sister is also graduating as her high school’s salutatorian.

The statement is signed by officials of the Southern Baptist Convention, Assemblies of God, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Anglican Church in North America, Evangelical Presbyterian Church and several Pentecostal denominations, among others. They represent churches whose memberships include over 20 million members.

The statement reads:

“We strongly support the Boy Scouts of America current prohibition on open homosexuality and retaining it without revision. Nearly 70 percent of BSA troops are hosted by churches and religious institutions. Upholding traditional morality is vital for sustaining this partnership, for protecting Scout members, and for ensuring BSA has a strong future. A proposal from the BSA board to prohibit ‘discrimination’ based on ‘sexual orientation or preference’ for BSA members potentially would open the Scouts to a wide range of open sexual expressions. In our current culture, it is more important than ever for our churches to protect and provide moral nurture for young people and for the Scouts. We implore members of the upcoming BSA Council to affirm the BSA’s present policy, which the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed, and which has served BSA well.”

John Howard Griffin (pictured) was born in 1920 in the “good ol’ boy” state of Texas. During his childhood, Griffin, who was Caucasian, was quickly schooled in the White supremacist ideologies of his surrounding community. When Griffin reached adulthood, he felt compelled to contribute toward ending racism, so he embarked on a journey.  Disheartened by America’s racial climate, Griffin wanted to see what life would be like as a Black man, so he concocted a daring experiment, where he would pose as one in order to understand the plight of “Negroes.” Griffin drastically darkened his skin and inconspicuously traveled throughout the rabidly racist South for nearly two months during the height of the civil rights era in 1959.  He chronicled his emotionally charged discoveries in his book published two years later entitled “Black Like Me.”  Even though Griffin’s skin-darkening methods were perilous by today’s standards, did he in fact die of the deadliest form of skin cancer, melanoma, as a result of his experiment?

SEE ALSO: Black Conspiracy Theories 101: Did Serena Say ‘A White Man Is The Only Real Choice For A Successful Black Female?’

Griffin’s memoir recounts the medical treatments he endured in order to darken his skin pigment. After the journalist found a dermatologist who agreed to take part in his outlandish experiment, Griffin began the skin-darkening process by ingesting a pill daily then subjecting himself to 15 hours a day of an ultra-violet sunlamp treatment for seven days straight. Once the week was up, Griffin shaved his head, and when he looked in the mirror, a Black man stared back at him (pictured).

In his controversial book, Griffin explains how segregation and racism reigned supreme in the South and how he was also privy to acts of Black solidarity that forever remained ingrained in his soul. Griffin also exposed the ugly and dehumanizing treatment he received as a Black man, such as not being able to use public restrooms, being denied housing, having to work as a laborer for the leisure or pleasure of serving Whites, and becoming the target of brazen insults and indignities.

After Griffin’s book was published, it ignited a firestorm, both good and bad. Many praised the book for his raw and unique look at how Blacks were treated in this country at the time, while others trashed it.  In fact, when Griffin returned to his birthplace of Dallas, he was burned in effigy on the main street of his hometown. The “Black Like Me” author was also forced to flee from his home for fear of possible persecution from White hate groups.

Griffin had become a target, branded an “N-word lover,” and there were racist Whites, who felt he needed to be taught a lesson, so he and his family relocated to Mexico, where they lived for years before returning to the United States.

In February of 2000, four N.Y.C. police officers were acquitted of all charges in the death of Amadou Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea who was shot 41 times after police thought his wallet was somehow a gun. In January of 2004, 19-year-old Timothy Stansbury was shot and killed by an NYPD officer patrolling the rooftop near his building who said he fired his gun by mistake because he was “startled” when Stansbury opened the rooftop door.

A grand jury decided not to indict the officer, ruling the incident an accident.

Watch Stansbury’s dad discuss the murder of his son here:

RELATED: Bronx Judge Throws Out Ramarley Graham Case, Family Vows To Keep Fighting For Slain Son

In April 2012, 27-year-old Tamon Robinson was struck and killed by an NYPD cruiser near his home. While in a coma, Tamon was even handcuffed to his hospital bed for days until his death.

A year later, there is still no grand jury hearing on the case.

Watch news coverage of Robinson’s murder here:

That same year, 23-year-old Shantel Davis was shot in the chest by a Brooklyn cop after some sort of alleged chase. She died, and no gun was ever found on her.

On Oct. 4, 2012, after unarmed 22-year-old National Guardsman Noel Polanco was pulled over on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens, an officer shot and killed him because “he felt threatened.”

In February of this year, a grand jury failed to indict the officer.

Watch news coverage of Polanco’s murder:

And who can forget the tragic case of 23-year-old Sean Bell, who died from a hail of 50 bullets from the NYPD the morning of his wedding in 2006.

Three detectives were later found not guilty on all charges in his death.

Watch Bell’s unfortunate demise here:

I was there that day when justice failed Bell’s family and his fiancé, Nicole Paultre Bell.  I was there as she came to the realization that she would have to raise their two young daughters without their father and no one would be held accountable. I was there as the courts poured salt in to the wounds of his parents by failing them.

Those same emotions of disbelief, anger, sadness, frustration, and outright disrespect hit me again last Wednesday – this time in a Bronx courtroom.

Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief

Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief says it has deployed at least 80 volunteers to respond to severe weather in Oklahoma. Those interested in helping can make a tax-deductible donation to the BGCO’s Disaster Relief ministry online or call (405) 942-3800. You may also send checks to: BGCO Attn: Disaster Relief 3800 N. May Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73112.

The American Red Cross has several shelters open in Oklahoma and Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles have begun delivering hot meals throughout the affected areas. The Red Cross is also working to link loved ones in Moore who are OK through a website called Safe and Well. Text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief, donate online, or donate by phone at 1-800-RED CROSS.

Read:Minute Meditation: Prayer For Safety

Salvation Army

Two easy ways for you to reach out and support the efforts to assist Oklahoma tornado victims:

To donate $10 to The Salvation Army text the word STORM to 80888
or call 800-SAL-ARMY.

To donate $10 to The Red Cross text REDCROSS to 90999 or call 1-800-REDCROSS

I was flipping through the TV channels last week and came across one of Spike Lee’s best movies, School Daze.  This was a 1988 film written and directed by Lee.  The movie took an inside look at some of the internal issues that go on within the Black community—issues like dark skinned Blacks versus light skinned Blacks; Blacks that have “good”  hair versus Blacks with “nappy” hair; Blacks from wealthy families versus Blacks from poor families.   The movie was funny and serious at the same time.  I always say that comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.

The movie’s setting takes place on the fictional Black college campus of Morehouse College.  Lee’s concept for the movie was based on his experiences he had as a student at School Daze, as well as his interactions with students from Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University.  Spelman and Morehouse are predominately occupied by children of the Black elite.  They are all located in Atlanta.

The movie received critical acclaim and was a financial success. But it created a firestorm because the elite Blacks did not take well to criticism of their disdain of Blacks who were not part of their clique—just ask Bill Cosby.

Though the school in the movie was named Mission College, it was actually shot on the campuses of Morehouse, Spelman and Clark Atlanta.  But, because of the movie’s portrayal of the Black bourgeoisie, Lee was forced to stop filming on those campuses and was barred from being invited to speak on their campuses after the movie was released.  He was forced to complete his filming at nearby Morris Brown College, a lesser known Black college that was not known to have many people from wealthy backgrounds.

Retired postal worker Melvyn Wilson (pictured) is probably one of the luckiest men on earth, because on Wednesday, he picked up his fourth winning lottery check, and this time, it was for a whopping $500,000, reports The Washington Times.

SEE ALSO: 30-Year-Old Principal Makes Strides At Newark High School

The Woodbridge, Va., resident, who has won more than $2 million, first hit the lotto jackpot back in 2004, when a scratch card fetched him $25,000.

Just one year later, Wilson struck it rich, yet again! 

Two more lottery scratch cards resulted in Wilson receiving a $1 million win on one and a $500,000 prize on the other.

Two years after his last lotto windfall, Wilson decided to call it quits at the post office.

RELATED: Civil Disobedience Arrests Mount In N.C. In Protest Of Conservative Agenda

The arrests were part of the “Moral Monday” series of protests that include civil rights advocates, students, clergy, and other progressive types fighting a new legislative agenda put forward by statehouse Republicans that weakens access to health care, restricts voting rights, restores the death penalty, and takes away some funding for the state university system.

“This leadership wants to make our state a place of deeper stratification and inequality,” said Rev. William Barber II (pictured), president of the North Carolina NAACP. “Here in North Carolina we are seeing a fast march backward toward as much unequal treatment as people will allow.”

It seems the wide ranging nature of the conservative proposals at the statehouse are giving additional vigor to the protest: so many areas are under attack from the Republican lawmakers that many everyday citizens are finding something to get angry about.

Students opposed to drastic cuts to the state educational system are standing side-by-side with civil rights advocates upset with proposals designed to make it more difficult to vote by eliminating same-day voter registration and some early voting rules.

Rev. Jonathan Wilson-Hargrove, associate minister of St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, said he got arrested Monday to protest the legislature’s move to end the Racial Justice Act of 2009, which allowed death row inmates to appeal their sentences on the grounds of racial bias in the court system.

“You have to always be careful when there are economic hardships because there are people who will play on the fears of regular folks in order to pass extremist legislation,” Wilson-Hargrove told NewsOne.

A rider is a list of demands touring artists make as they travel from one venue to the next. Here’s a list from other artists.

Madonna
*20 international phone lines
*Lillies and white and light-pink roses that have stems trimmed to percisely 6 inches

Mariah Carey
*20 white kittens and 100 doves
*2 dozen white roses and vanilla aromatherapy candles
*NO busy patterns in the living room space
*Room temp at 75 degrees