Legend’s kin rage
Horne grandkid hits principal on race
THE FAMILY of Lena Horne blasted a Bronx principal a day after the Daily News reported the school official had confiscated a student-made poster celebrating the trailblazing singer and actress.
Horne’s granddaughter Jenny Lumet said she and her mother, Gail, were “transcendentally outraged” to learn about Intermediate School 224 Principal Patricia Catania’s latest antics.
Lumet said the family was astounded that “this woman believes that the way to educate American children is to deny them access to great Americans.”
“Who doesn’t want young women of color to thrive?” Lumet added in an interview with The News on Wednesday at her Upper West Side apartment.
“They’re hungry to learn about their heritage.”
Catania, who is white and already under fire for ordering English teacher Mercedes LirianoClark to stop giving black history lessons, ignited fresh outrage Tuesday when she seized the poster the two sixth-grade girls created.
In the exclusive interview, the 51-year-old Lumet sang the praises of Liriano-Clark and offered to meet with the girls to share stories of the musical genius who smashed racial barriers.
“We salute Ms. Liriano-Clark for being exactly what a schoolteacher is, which is fearless,” said Lumet, who noted she was also speaking on behalf of her mother. “And we absolutely salute the two girls who created the project.”
Meanwhile, Bronx Superintendent Richard Cintron was dispatched to the school in an effort to quell the growing controversy.
The Education Department said it was open to discussing a school visit from Horne’s family.
“We encourage schools to provide opportunities for students to share their feedback and thoughts through appropriate and respectful activities, lessons and meaningful conversations, and welcome a discussion with the family about the possibility of a visit,” said spokeswoman Toya Holness.
Catania declined to answer a reporter’s questions as she left her Brooklyn home Wednesday morning.
“We have nothing to say,” said a man who identified himself as Catania’s husband. “That’s Board of Education regulations.”
The turmoil at IS 224 began Feb. 7 when Catania apparently pulled Liriano-Clark aside and told her not to give lessons about the Harlem Renaissance literature and art movement of the 1920s.
The city is investigating the incident.
The anger among teachers, parents and civil rights activists only grew after Catania crushed the spirits of the students who crafted the work of art honoring Horne.
Liriano-Clark said the poster was displayed at the National Action Network’s headquarters for a weekend rally in protest of Catania’s effort to block her from teaching about black history.
When an aide and student went to retrieve it from LirianoClark’s car, Catania swooped in and grabbed it without any explanation, according to the student and teacher.
Catania later returned the poster.
Lumet said her grandmother, a Brooklyn native who was the great-granddaughter of a freed slave, would have marched to the school herself if she were still alive.
Horne would have “gone to see the girls first, then wait patiently outside the principal’s office, and had a very direct chat,” Lumet said.
Lumet, a screenwriter and mother of two, spoke inside her home filled with photos and books about her grandmother, as well as a sheet of Lena Horne stamps and the late icon’s 1995 Grammy for best jazz vocal performance.
Throughout her dazzling decades-long career, Horne was an outspoken voice against racism in Hollywood, the music business and even the military. She died in 2010 at 92. “Lena Horne has been honored by the highest levels of government around the world, as have many of the artists of the Harlem Renaissance,” Lumet said. “They are, whether Ms. Catania likes it or not, architects of this nation.”