JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — She made national headlines when she was taken off teaching duties in a Duval County Public Schools classroom for refusing to take down a Black Lives Matter flag in her classroom. Amy Donofrio is now making headlines for a completely different reason.
Donofrio is still helping her students find their voice, even if their new message comes in a new-age picture form.
Discussion of public education in Duval County in the spring of 2021 was consumed with conversation about Amy Donofrio's classroom. To this day, Donofrio still stands for what she believes is right.
"This was about me standing up with our youth and facing off against injustice, says Donofrio. "We've done that since day one and I am proud to do that today."
She's still standing with members of the EVAC Movement, and they're now supported by Hollywood producers. Right now Donofrio and some of her former students are in Los Angeles to debut their brand new NFT collection at the LA Art Show, one of the biggest contemporary art shows in the world.
"We are proud to represent all of the youth of Duval and their dreams on a national scale," says Donofrio.
NFT, or non-fungible tokens, are a new type of digital ledger that can sell for thousands of dollars. This group's line is under the DreamCrazyJITS brand and the inspiration for the images are the kids themselves.
"I'm doing this to show the youth around the world, especially Jacksonville, no dream is too crazy to be accomplished," says Nick Shubert while looking at a picture of an NFT made from his likeness.
Friday's launch is also significant because it comes on the two year anniversary of the death of one of the EVAC group's founding members, Reginald Boston. Boston was shot to death by a Jacksonville police officer on January 21, 2020. He was the salutatorian of his class, had no criminal record and left behind a young child.
"Even though I missed the memorial, I'm going to do something that will change his life, his kids life, his mama's life," says Shubert.
"We've dedicated this collection to him [Boston] and to justice for him," says Donofrio. "We want the world to know about him and that his life mattered, his dreams matter."
Dreams that will be shown to the world as an NFT
If you are interested in purchasing one of these NFTs you're invited to join the DreamCrazyJITS exclusive presale (https://dreamcrazyjits.com/vip-presale) and become part of the community change on Twitter (www.twitter.com/DreamCrazyJITS) and Discord (https://discord.com/invite/kJUEWHesDV)
