This story has touched the immigrant and diaspora communities to the core. 💔
15-year-old Javits Frimpong moved from Ghana to New York to join his father and pursue a brighter future. Just ONE YEAR AND ONE DAY after arriving in America, his life was tragically cut short when he was fatally shot in the Bronx on Thursday morning, October 29, while on his way to school.
💔 His father, Thomas Frimpong, believes bullying may have played a role in his son’s killing.
Just THREE DAYS before the shooting, his father says the school principal called to inform him that two students had been bullying Javits and were suspended for a week.
“The principal told me Javits is innocent. Javits is innocent. He was defending himself,” his father recalled.
For so many of us who grew up as immigrant children in America, THIS STORY IS TRIGGERING.
We remember being teased for our accents, our African or Caribbean backgrounds, our names, our clothes, or simply because we were different. Many of us experienced that cruelty firsthand.
Our parents brought us here believing America would offer us opportunities they never had. No parent should have to bury their child after making that sacrifice.
Being an immigrant child should never make you a target. Being different should never put your life in danger.
Javits was only 15. His father described him as quiet, intelligent, and precious. He deserved a future. 💔
We are praying for his family and demanding answers and justice. 🕊️❤️
🗳️ DIASPORA POLL: DID YOU EXPERIENCE BULLYING IN SCHOOL BECAUSE OF YOUR ACCENT, NATIONALITY, OR IMMIGRANT BACKGROUND?
Let’s talk about it. Share your experience in the comments. Our stories matter, and so do our children’s lives.
#JavitsFrimpong #JusticeForJavits #StopBullying #ImmigrantStories #HaitianAmericans
4 days agobodiedbytanya
Prayers for this family 🙏 What a disgusting world we live in. I hope they get justice!!
4 days agoextremely_bless_ya
You know the crazy part is, black Americans wanna talks about CAUCASIAN Racisms or HATRED for Black People but, they NEVER wanna focus on the HATE that so many Black Americans has for Immigrants. Came to the 🇺🇸 in 1997 and I tell, I used to see all the time and I used to always have to be ready for them black Americans kids and make it even worse is that, decades later, I would learn some of them, had a immigrant Parent and some later, would be acting like they had always been done with HAITIAN or Immigrant People. They are NOT Different from a CAUCASIAN that HATE A Black Person when they HATE an Immigrant that looks like them..
5 days agoreegedeon
I didn’t get bullied but experienced microaggressions regularly without knowing or recognizing what those were until I was much older.
5 days agolorihuntur
This happens all over the world. This time it happened in the Caribbean Latino and African community in NY. Don't blame USA citizens. The immigrant community needs to fix their own mess.
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