A dedicated U.S. history teacher found herself fired from a charter school in Michigan over a reason that had nothing to do with her teaching.
Domonique Brown, fired from the Taylor Preparatory High School in Detroit, was known in the classroom for her engaging teaching methods and outside it as "Drippin Honey," her rap persona. She revealed on social media that she lost her job because an anonymous parent had an issue with her parallel music career.
“Nobody even knew I was a rapper until the parent kept continuously complaining,” Domonique told WDBJ7.
Domonique Brown taught history at the Detroit school and was titled Teacher of the Month a couple of months before she was fired
The controversy at the school began around the Thanksgiving holiday last year, and what followed was months of meetings and an ultimatum served to Domonique to either erase all her content or discontinue teaching at the school. Despite the ongoing controversy, at the time, Domonique earned the title of the school’s Teacher of the Month in December.
“Recently, I was forced to leave my position due to me being a Rapper. A single parent’s disapproval led to my dismissal. The parent wished to stay Anonymous after contacting my job for months, I’ve been dealing with this since I dropped ‘Drippin 101,’” Domonique wrote on social media,
“5 months later Meetings after meetings defending my involvement in the music industry I was asked to erase all my content that’s when I knew I HAVE TO BET ON MYSELF CUZ NOBODY WILL IF I DONT. What troubles me most about this situation is the lack of consideration for the impact and influence I have had on my students’ lives,” she went on to say.
The teacher went viral after filming a video with her students on her last day at the school and posting it online
Image credits: DrippinHoney
The rapper, who said she had been teaching for seven years, noted that she was hired by the school based on her qualifications, experience, and “potential to positively impact the lives of my students” but was fired for her life outside of the school premises.
On her last day of teaching at the high school, Domonique rallied her students together and produced a music video that has now become a viral sensation.
"Wish she was my teacher when I was younger," people said online
Domonique is now widening her fan base, as several people praised her for her new rap video with her students.
“Wish she was my teacher when I was younger,” one said, while another added, “That school just got robbed of their coolest teacher.”
“Give this woman her job back. She's keeping kids in school not the streets,” read a third comment.
Another wrote, “I get that teachers need to be role models while teaching kids inside the classroom but you can't stop them from pursuing artistic endeavors, imo. Let's be honest, it's not the students who got this teacher fired. It was the parents.”