College professor goes viral for carrying student’s baby on her back during 3-hour lecture

Ramata Sissoko Cissé, an assistant professor of biology at Georgia Gwinnett College, is Internet famous after a photo went viral showing her teaching an anatomy course with one of her student’s children strapped to her back.

Speaking to both CNN and Yahoo, Cissé, also a mother of three, explained that one of her students called her before class with news that her babysitter was sick and she wanted the green light to bring her baby to class.

READ MORE: Olympian Allyson Felix breaks Usain Bolt’s record for world championship medals

“She asked if she could bring the baby with her to class because she had missed a class already and did not want to be behind. …I know the student is very smart and ambitious. She really wanted to learn,” Cissé said to Yahoo.

But in class, the baby boy kept distracting the mother, making it hard for her to take notes on the lesson.

“I said, ‘Hand me the baby,'” the professor said. “I knew I could make it easy for her not only to concentrate but also to take notes with ease,” she added.

“In my native Mali, we used sheets and other pieces of fabric to securely carry babies on our backs. My natural instinct was to find a way to secure the baby and I was standing next to a rack with a clean lab coat.”

my mom is my role model.

her student couldn’t find a babysitter today & being the true African mother that she is, taught a THREE hour class with the baby on her back & fed him.

I’m so blessed to be raised by a woman who loves the world as much as her own children. pic.twitter.com/6yuynJhuPw

— Annadote 💊 (@AnnaKhadejah) September 20, 2019

With the baby safely secured on her back, Cissé continued to teach as he slept through the three-hour class.

“Towards the end, he woke up and I took him off my back, sat in the first row and fed him with a bottle. He did not cry once,” Cissé said. Her daughter later tweeted the now viral picture of her mother teaching with the baby on her back.

“My decision to help out this student was driven by the school culture with a student’s success being foremost. We do all we can for the student to be successful,” the professor said. “I did not want to see her struggling, because as a mother, I know how hard it could be.”

A spokeswoman for Georgia Gwinnett College told CNN that the child’s mother asked to not be identified.

“Love and compassion are part of the philosophy of my classroom,” Cissé said.

READ MORE: Twitter temporarily suspends Baltimore politician for ‘excessive tweeting’

 

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Twitter temporarily suspends Baltimore politician for ‘excessive tweeting’

A Maryland state lawmaker was suspended from her Twitter account for what the application called “excessive” tweeting about use of public transit and climate change, but gave the account back just a day later.

Baltimore Del. Robbyn Lewis said Twitter suspended her account for violating its spam policy with the use of “excessive” hashtags, citing, “prohibiting the misuse of Twitter product features.” A day later after her appeal, Lewis’ account was up and running again, CBS Baltimore reports.

Lewis says she was using the hashtags to get her constituents on board with using public transit on Car Free Day.

Thanks everyone for the ♥️! I’m back! Apparently hashtags about transit & African American women leaders are verboten! I never insult, fight, engage trolls. I just ride the bus & my bike & try to love everyone. Back to work! Srsly thank you all! #FreeAtLast pic.twitter.com/lL8EUXxoLc

— Del. Robbyn Lewis (@RobbynLewis46th) September 27, 2019

But in doing so Lewis, apparently added a barrage of hashtags which Twitter said was used “with an intent to subvert or manipulate a conversation or to drive traffic or attention to accounts, websites, products, services or initiatives,” and “tweeting with excessive, unrelated hashtags in a single tweet or across multiple tweets.”

But Dave Heilker, a candidate for Baltimore City Council wasn’t buying Twitter’s defense of the suspension and instead insinuated that Lewis was racially targeted by the social media platform.

Wtf @twitter why did you suspend #ourdelegate‽ @robbynlewis46th is the first black Delegate to ever represent her district, and ALSO THIS WEBSITE REGULARLY REFUSES TO DEPLATFORM LITERAL NAZIS. Fix this!!

— Dave Heilker (@daveforbmore) September 27, 2019

Also, State Delegate Eric Luedtke demanded Twitter offer a better explanation, saying it is commonplace for politicians to use their social media platform to reach their base.

Yesterday @Twitter suspended the account of one of my colleagues, @RobbynLewis46th. I spoke with Delegate Lewis this morning and they have offered no explanation to her or the public. That’s unacceptable.

— Delegate Eric Luedtke (@EricLuedtke) September 27, 2019

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Olympian Allyson Felix breaks Usain Bolt’s record for world championship medals

U.S. Olympic team sprinter Allyson Felix won a 12th world track and field title breaking a tie the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt, cementing a monumental comeback and her first gold medal after becoming a mom.

She joined in the first mixed-gender 4×400-meter relay at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar along with Americans Michael Cherry, Wil London III and Courtney Okolo for a finish of just over 3.9 seconds. Felix ran a 50.4-second split, or time she completed her leg of the relay.

READ MORE: Olympian Allyson Felix opens up about giving birth eight weeks premature last month

The nine-time Olympic gold medalist surprised her fans late last year when she gave birth to her baby girl Camryn last November, but she suffered medical complications that sent her into labor eight weeks early.

“So special, to have my daughter here watching means the world to me,” Felix told NBC Sports. “It’s been a crazy year for me.”

Felix became the first athlete since Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988 to win three gold medals in a single Olympic Games.  But she feared that having a child would somehow sideline her career and she struggled with trying to “live up to my pristine nice girl image”.

“Having a child felt like I’d be risking my career and disappointing everyone who expected me to always put running first,” she said previously.

She returned to running over the summer with an outspoken message about women’s rights in sports, particularly after she left Nike as a spokesperson when the athletic gear company gave her a 70 percent cut in pay after her pregnancy.

However, she fought against companies punishing women athletes for lesser performances after being pregnant.

READ MORE: Allyson Felix talks ‘Active’ schools campaign, keeping sports clean

“If we have children, we risk pay cuts from our sponsors during pregnancy and afterward. It’s one example of a sports industry where the rules are still mostly made for and by men,” she wrote in a New York Times op-ed earlier this year. She has since signed a contract with women’s sports gear maker Athleta.

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Samuel L. Jackson Signs On as First Celebrity Voice Of Amazon’s Alexa

Can’t get enough of Samuel L. Jackson? Well, now you will be able to hear his voice in your home or car on-demand via the Amazon Alexa.

Jackson, who is known for his signature profanity-laced phrases, is the first celebrity voice slated to be used in Alexa-themed devices. Amazon’s celebrity voice feature will cost an additional 99 cents and will be featured on Amazon’s home devices as well as Amazon’s new wearable line of earbuds, eyeglasses, and a ring. More celebrity voices are expected to be added in the near future. Users will have the option to utilize one of two different versions of Jackson’s voice: an explicit edition and a non-explicit one.

Amazon made the announcement on its blog about the newly added premium feature featuring the actor. “Actor and producer Samuel L. Jackson is the first celebrity voice we’ve created for Alexa using neural text-to-speech (NTTS) technology. Simply ask Sam to tell you jokes, information about the weather, set timers and alarms, play music and more—all with a bit of his own personality. You’ll be able to interact with Samuel L. Jackson, in explicit and non-explicit versions, later this year for $0.99.”

As reported on Amazon’s corporate site, the company also revealed it will soon start selling wireless earbuds, finger rings and prescription eyeglasses with its Alexa voice assistant built-in.

“Customers want their smart home technology to make everyday tasks easier, but not at the expense of spending their whole weekend, or hiring an expert, just to get everything set up,” said Daniel Rausch, Amazon Vice President, Smart Home. “We think customers will be delighted with what we have coming this fall—more ways to find smart home devices they can set up in minutes, new Alexa features that take the stress out of being away from home, and new products that help families enjoy great meals together or just have a little fun.”

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Samuel L. Jackson Signs On as First Celebrity Voice Of Amazon’s Alexa

Can’t get enough of Samuel L. Jackson? Well, now you will be able to hear his voice in your home or car on-demand via the Amazon Alexa.

Jackson, who is known for his signature profanity-laced phrases, is the first celebrity voice slated to be used in Alexa-themed devices. Amazon’s celebrity voice feature will cost an additional 99 cents and will be featured on Amazon’s home devices as well as Amazon’s new wearable line of earbuds, eyeglasses, and a ring. More celebrity voices are expected to be added in the near future. Users will have the option to utilize one of two different versions of Jackson’s voice: an explicit edition and a non-explicit one.

Amazon made the announcement on its blog about the newly added premium feature featuring the actor. “Actor and producer Samuel L. Jackson is the first celebrity voice we’ve created for Alexa using neural text-to-speech (NTTS) technology. Simply ask Sam to tell you jokes, information about the weather, set timers and alarms, play music and more—all with a bit of his own personality. You’ll be able to interact with Samuel L. Jackson, in explicit and non-explicit versions, later this year for $0.99.”

As reported on Amazon’s corporate site, the company also revealed it will soon start selling wireless earbuds, finger rings and prescription eyeglasses with its Alexa voice assistant built-in.

“Customers want their smart home technology to make everyday tasks easier, but not at the expense of spending their whole weekend, or hiring an expert, just to get everything set up,” said Daniel Rausch, Amazon Vice President, Smart Home. “We think customers will be delighted with what we have coming this fall—more ways to find smart home devices they can set up in minutes, new Alexa features that take the stress out of being away from home, and new products that help families enjoy great meals together or just have a little fun.”

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