A Black woman who was graduating from a Queens community college has gone viral after snatching a microphone from a White educator who wouldn’t allow her to hold it to say her name.
On June 21, Kadia Iman had gotten to an altercation with the educator (whose name has not been identified) during a commencement ceremony, causing the school to denounce her actions as “unnecessary.”
“An incident occurred involving one graduate who demonstrated their frustration during the student procession for not being able to hold the microphone while they announced their name,” Manny Romero, the school’s chief spokesman, told the New York Post in an email Monday.
The email continued “As a process for keeping the ceremony running in an orderly manner, students are given the opportunity to say their name while a volunteer holds the microphone. None of the students are allowed to hold the microphone to avoid any delay of the student procession and the ceremony.”
Romero then proceeded to criticize Iman’s behavior, calling it “disruptive and inappropriate,” adding that it ruined a “celebration for graduates and guests.”
“Her mistreatment of a staff volunteer was unacceptable. We are currently reviewing the incident to gain a better understanding of what occurred and what we might do in the future to prevent something like this from happening again,” he said.
Following the melee, Iman took to TikTok to post the video of her grabbing the microphone out of the hands of the woman on the campus of Queens College, where the ceremony took place.
“I want the mic! Let go! You didn’t let me get my moment,” Iman shouted. ”I’m graduating today. I don’t like how you snatched the mic out of my hand, so today is going to be all about me!”
She then dropped the mic and scurried away.
She defends her actions stating that she is not the “bad guy.”
“To everyone saying I should be embarrassed or I’ll never get a job … I’m a black woman in America,” Iman wrote. “I am always in the right … u will not gaslight me into thinking I’m the bad guy. I did it for girls that look like me. Love u.”
She then doubled down on her actions in another video in which she explains why she chose to behave in the manner she did.
“Basically, what happened was I was walking on and we had to say our names before we get on the stage,” she said. “So I was saying my name and she literally — my name is long, obviously, I have like three syllables in my name.
She continued: “So, I didn’t even get to finish saying my name, and then the people that went before me, they all got to say their name, their major, and even extras,” Iman said. “Me and another girl noticed that she was pulling the mic down super fast for some black people — I don’t want to be that person, so I just couldn’t let her … I just couldn’t let that happen. I just feel like I worked so hard to graduate and went through so much sh*t to graduate that I just felt like I had to reclaim my moment. I’m sorry.”
Meanwhile, Romero wrote in the email that: “At LaGuardia, we take pride in providing our students with the academic, emotional, and developmental support they need to be successful inside and outside of the classroom. We also encourage a safe and respectful learning and working environment for our students, faculty, and staff.”
