9-year-old Bobbie Wilson went to the police for spraying invasive lanterns. Now she’s been honored by Yale

Yale University honored Bobbie Wilson, a 9-year-old black girl who was approached by police after spraying invasive spotlights.

According to a university press release, on January 20, the Yale School of Public Health held a ceremony honoring Bobby’s efforts to eradicate invasive species.

The ceremony also served as an opportunity to celebrate Bobby’s donation of her personal collection of spotted lanterns to the Yale Peabody Museum.

“Yale doesn’t usually do anything like this… it’s something unique to Bobby,” Yale School of Public Health assistant professor Ijeoma Opara, who organized the event, said in a release from the university. “We wanted to show her courage and how inspiring she is, and we just want to make sure she continues to feel respected and loved by the Yale community.”

In October, Bobbi tested homemade spotted lantern repellant in her hometown of Caldwell, New Jersey. State departments of agriculture across the country have urged Americans to kill invasive insects that pose a threat to native trees and plants.

But Bobby’s attempt to help get rid of the invasive species was cut short when a neighbor called the police and reported that “a little black woman was walking, spraying stuff on the sidewalks and trees of Elizabeth and Florence.”

Bobby’s mother, Monique Joseph, previously told CNN that her daughter was embarrassed and upset by the incident.

Bobby Wilson

Bobbi Wilson, a 9-year-old black girl who was called to police after collecting invasive spotted lanterns, has now received a Yale University award for her work as a young scientist.

Andrew Hurley/Yale

The incident drew attention to the “outrage” of young black girls, who experts say are being treated more harshly by police than their white counterparts.

The ceremony was Bobby’s second visit to Yale. Opara invited her to tour the university shortly after the incident with the police.

At the ceremony, Joseph praised Opara, who runs a mentoring program for black teenage girls, for welcoming and supporting her Bobby, as well as her 13-year-old daughter Hayden.

“Dr. Opara, you have been a blessing,” she said, according to a press release. “You are part of our testimony and what it means to have a community of amazing, beautiful, black, smart scientists and doctors, and more importantly, your heart and your passion for the work you do.

“You helped us change the trajectory of that day,” she added.

For Joseph, the incident was an opportunity to speak out against racism in her city and across the country.

“I know this happened for us, not for us,” she said at the ceremony. “The reason Bobby is here and we are not mourning is because someone upstairs wanted us to be involved in changing racism in our city… It is precisely because we have Bobby that we can stand here and do something. it is to speak for itself.”

“I don’t just speak for Bobby. I don’t just speak for my daughters. I speak for the children,” Joseph continued. “I stand for everyone who ticks the box “others”, who shows racism towards them, prejudice against them.”

According to a press release, Bobby’s collection of spotted lanterns has already been expertly mounted and is on display at the Peabody Museum.

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