Watching our President explain what our country needs to get out of current economic state last night only made it clear to me how right Barack Obama is for our country at this time. But my heart skipped a beat a little when he told the story of Ty’Sheoma Bethea, a 14-year-old junior high school student from Dillon, South Carolina. Ty’Sheoma showed the nation (heck, the world) the indomitable spirit of a black girl. We press on when others think we should stop.
If you didn’t get a chance to hear the speech, here’s what President Obama had to say about this young lady:
And I think about Ty-Sheoma Bethea, the young girl from that school I visited in Dillon, S.C. — a place where the ceilings leak, the paint peels off the walls, and they have to stop teaching six times a day because the train barrels by their classroom. She has been told that her school is hopeless, but the other day after class she went to the public library and typed up a letter to the people sitting in this room. She even asked her principal for the money to buy a stamp. The letter asks us for help, and says, “We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself and one day president, so we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina but also the world. We are not quitters.”
But Ty’Sheoma also wanted to make sure that everyone knew that although her school had not been given the resources, they were eager to show everyone how smart, capable and ready they were to take advantage of the help if they received it. In addition to being determined, this young lady has pride and passion for her cause.
Ty’Sheoma wrote. “We finally want to prove to the world that we have an chance in life just like other schools and we can feel good about what we are doing because of the conditions we are in now we can not succeed in anything.”
What made this all so real was seeing Ty’Sheoma, dressed in her Sunday best (hair pressed and shining) seated next to our gracious First Lady, Michelle Obama in her special box in the mezzanine. When the President told Ty’Sheoma’s story, our First Lady gently urged her to stand. Then she embraced her as the members of the audience gave her a rousing applause. Then the camera panned to the left and we could Ty’Sheoma’s mother who wrapped her arms around her daughter as well, clearly proud but also probably in awe of the moment. Ty’Sheoma beamed with a light so powerful that it could have lit the whole room. Perhaps Ty’Sheoma’s passion, pride and determination will become contagious. Do your part and tell a young sister what she’s done.
Why? Ty’Sheoma Bethea is proof positive that a black girl can make a difference in the world. We are not invisible and we need not be silent.
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February 25th, 2009 at 10:01 am
Ms. Corynne I loved your bLOg but, was very disappointed in one of your ending comments. You said, “Sunday Best(hair pressed and shining)”. I am sorry but, what made all of thisreal is the fact that shewas sitting next to Michelle Obama PERIOD. Not that her hair was pressed adn shining. It makes an assumption that that was something out of the ordinary when it comes to black females. If she had been there with a nappy head and Jeans her story would have had the same impact.
From one Sister to another.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:29 am
I’m glad to see that Ms. Bethea had the approval of the First Lady. She hugged and praised her with such love and appreciation for the letter she wrote. We need more of this activity from the youth of this country. However, the First Lady couldn’t even extend her hand to the US Marine sitting to her rear. The guy is a combat veteran and recipient of the Purple Heart. He was wounded fighting for this country and while everyone around him shook his hand, the First Lady couldn’t. She did manage to stare at him for a few awkward seconds. What a disgrace.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Clarese, i didn’t mean anything derogatory by my statement. I meant that she came out looking her best. She was absolutely glowing. And I would be proud of her no matter what she wore. Not only was she seated next to the First Lady but acknowledged by everyone in that room!
February 25th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
I loved this moment. Thank you for writing about it. Cool blog!
February 25th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Corynne,
Thank you for your Ty’Sheoma Bethea post. The most poignant moment of Barack’s address was when he highlighted Ty’Sheoma and then drove home the personal responsibility we all have to fulfilling our life’s purpose by realizing our dreams. Giving up and dropping out is not an option as “it’s not just quitting on yourself, it’s quitting on your country.” I am a family physician in Oregon and I will be writing Ty’Sheoma (got her address?) and her classmates to let them know that I will help them in whatever way I am able to fulfill their dreams – especially if they want to become physicians!
Pamela Wibe, MD
http://www.idealmedicalpractice.org
February 25th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
I don’t have Ty’Sheoma’s address but she attends the J.V.Martin Junior High School in Dillon, SC
February 25th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Hi,
My name is Geraldine Bethea, and when I was 18 years of age, there was only three Bethea’s in the white pages. I am sure we are relatd toTy’Sheoma. I would like to contact her family. My father’s name is Henry Bethea and my Mother’s name is Christine Bethea. He was born in South Carolina. Also I would like to contact President Obama regarding matter of dier importance. I sure hope you can make this possible.
Thanking you in advance.
Geraldine Bethea
February 25th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
I have been looking for a website that could connect you with the imformation needed. Imformation is very hard to obtain.
Geraldine Bethea
February 26th, 2009 at 9:39 am
This young lady is going to be somebody someday you can see it in her smile and you can see it written all over her face. The pen is mightier than the sword. I hope the Obama administration will intervene gracefully, mericifully and honestly and give these children a new school away from the railroad tracks.
February 27th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
All you need to do is enter the name of the school and the town and up it comes!
Dillon School District Two:
JV Martin Jr High
http://www.dillon2.k12.sc.us
301 N 3rd Ave
Dillon, SC 29536
(843) 774-1212
And to Jamal:
How do you know that Michelle didn’t shake hands with the Marine? Was the camera on her the entire time? I don’t think so!
I’m just a white woman named Pamela Fisk who wants to help Ty’Sheoma and her school…
May 4th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Chicago company donates furniture to Tysheoma’s school.
Run-down SC school featured by Obama gets facelift
By SEANNA ADCOX – 9 hours ago
DILLON, S.C. (AP) — Students who had grown resigned to old, “nasty” furnishings at their dilapidated middle school in rural South Carolina were elated Monday to find new furniture and a freshly painted cafeteria, thanks to a student’s plea, a president’s speech and a businessman’s response.
“I was amazed. They changed the whole thing,” said J.V. Martin Junior High eighth-grader Jessica Manning, 13. “It let me know somebody cares about us.”
Other students could be heard uttering the words “awesome” and “excellent” as they stared at the new furniture, custom made in black with varnished oak tops, that replaced creaky old desks coated in graffiti and chewing gum.
President Barack Obama brought national attention to the school Feb. 24 in his first address to Congress when he read a letter from eighth-grader Ty’Sheoma Bethea asking for help replacing her run-down school.
Bethea had addressed her letter to Congress, so her principal sent it to the White House and South Carolina’s congressional delegation.
Darryl Rosser, CEO of classroom furniture supplier Sagus International, called Principal Amanda Burnette the day after Obama read Bethea’s plea. After visiting the campus four weeks ago, Rosser said he knew he had to do what he could.
Over the weekend, Sagus sent nearly 2,000 pieces of furniture on four tractor-trailer loads. Volunteers worked throughout the weekend to put the surprise together, including a final coat of paint about 8 p.m. Sunday.
The furniture, plus setup and shipping by Sagus partners, was worth an estimated $250,000, Rosser said.
On Monday, Rosser said students’ reactions made it all worthwhile.
“It was heartwarming,” he said, smiling widely.
The cafeteria is newly painted in the school’s black and gold colors, with a three-dimensional Wildcats logo behind the stage.
Words of encouragement from leaders such as Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King Jr. adorn the walls. But the students chose as their favorite these words of President Obama: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
At a school assembly attended by state schools chief Jim Rex, U.S. Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., Rep. Jackie Hayes, D-Dillon, and Sen. Kent Williams, D-Marion, Rosser got a standing ovation.
Rex said Rosser, whose business is based in Chicago, demonstrated what South Carolinians should do more often, when it comes to public education. “I’m a little bit regretful that this is necessary, that we need this type of philanthropy,” he said. “For too long in South Carolina people have walked away. … We must instead learn to step up.”
At the assembly, examples of the old desks sat in a semi-circle, tagged with their age — circa 1940 to 1980.
They were “nasty,” said eighth-grader Johnarra Bethea. “All the other desks had writing on it and gum under them,” said the 13-year-old.
Her math teacher, Audrey Hunt, said the new desks have transformed her classroom, which formerly had mismatched desks, including a broken one students kept moving around, so they didn’t have to sit in it.
“It’s inviting,” she said. “It dresses the room up.”
Band teacher Kevin McLellan, a former J.V. Martin student, said he’s been asking for new seats for years. The new ergonomic chairs will improve students’ posture and sound, he said.
After three classes using the new furniture, eighth-grader Darby Hamer said her back felt better than usual, and the new desktops offered more room for books.
“And these don’t squeak,” said the 14-year-old.
The student who brought the attention to J.V. Martin said the correctly-sized furniture will help students focus.
“Even though our dream is not yet completed … We now have a better school. We now feel better about our school,” Ty’Sheoma Bethea said. “We are not quitters,” she added, mimicking the words in her letter, “and we are not through.”
September 21st, 2009 at 6:54 pm
good job tysheoma