Tell-It Report: White Cinnabon Worker Who Used N-Word Raised Over $155,000 In Donations
The woman targeted a Somali couple in a video that has now gone viral.
In Gullah Geechee communities, a “tell-it” was a designated lookout, community warning system and the most trusted source for news and information. The Tell-It Report is ContrabandCamp’s weekly roundup of the Black stories that deserve more attention — from politics to entertainment.
A Somali couple was the victims of a racist encounter with a white Cinnabon employee. Yet the self-proclaimed racist has raised more than $155,000 in donations after getting fired.
The National Park Service is eliminating free park entry on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth—but the agency added Trump’s birthday.
Alabama inmates are preparing for a labor strike to call attention to the inhumane living conditions and practices going on inside the state’s prisons.
Read the full stories below:
Racist Cinnabon employee raises over $155K after calling Somali customers a slur
Cinnabon fired a white employee after a video went viral of her calling two Black patrons a slur and repeatedly saying, “I am racist,” USA Today reports.
In the video, posted Dec. 5, Crystal Wilsey is working behind the cash register at a franchise in Ashwaubenon, Wisc., when she threatens to throw water on a Somali couple and makes obscene gestures at them while using the n-word multiple times. In a statement, the company condemned her behavior as “completely unacceptable.” However, Wilsey has gained support from others who believe otherwise.
A GiveSendGo campaign that was started on her behalf shortly after Wilsey’s firing has raised more than $155,000. Its description reads, “No White person should lose their job for refusing to be harassed by Somalians.” The page’s comment section is filled with racist hate speech. One donor wrote, “We need to clean this country up and this is a Frontline warrior.” Another remarked, “America needs to stay a white, christian country. No more fear, no more cowardice.”
Meanwhile, Sabrina Osman, who posted the video and says she is the cousin of the Somali woman in the video, has started a GoFundMe for legal fees. According to Osman, Farhia Ahmed asked for more caramel on her order when Wilsey said, “You could see me squeezing it through that witch-craft bandana you’re wearing on top of your head.” That is when Ahmed started recording.
As of Sunday, the GoFundMe has raised just over $17,000.
“She has been traumatized, anxious, and scared to go outside since this happened,” Osman wrote. “The racism in this country is getting out of hand, and we refuse to stay silent. No one should ever have to experience this kind of hate.”
This incident comes in the midst of President Donald Trump’s ongoing tirade against Somalians. On Dec. 2, Trump called them “garbage” as he launched new targeted efforts to deport Somalis living in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region. Trump has also threatened to end Temporary Protection Status for Somalis.
The ICE crackdown has led to federal agents pepper-spraying residents in predominantly East African neighborhoods and wrongfully arresting U.S. citizens who “look Somali.” For safety, residents have had to carry their passports out of fear of getting detained. Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, a constant target of Trump’s ire, said her son was recently detained by ICE but was released after showing his passport ID.
National Park Service ends free admission on MLK Day and Juneteenth
The National Park Service is ending free admission to its parks on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth starting in 2026, NBC News reports.
The removal comes as the agency altered its list of days U.S. citizens can enter national parks for free. Flag Day, which falls on Trump’s birthday, has been added to that list, as well as Fourth of July weekend, President Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday and the anniversary of the Park Service’s creation.
According to the Associated Press, former NAACP president Cornell Williams Brooks said on social media, “The raw & rank racism here stinks to high heaven,” in response to the news of the removal of the two holidays commemorating civil rights and the end of legal enslavement in the U.S.
National Parks Conservation Association spokesperson Kristen Brengel told the Associated Press that the change is concerning, especially the elimination of MLK Day.
“Not only does it recognize an American hero, it’s also a day when people go into parks to clean them up,” Brengel said. “Martin Luther King Jr. deserves a day of recognition … For some reason, Black history has repeatedly been targeted by this administration, and it shouldn’t be.”
The agency was also ordered to remove items promoting diversity, equity and inclusion from its gift shops by Dec. 19, according to The New York Times.
The move is the latest in the Trump administration’s efforts to whitewash and erase Black history. Earlier this year, the National Park Service removed information from its website about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad but restored it shortly after receiving public criticism.
Alabama inmates plan work strike amid inhuman prison conditions
The families of incarcerated individuals in Alabama are highlighting an ongoing crisis their loved ones are facing in state prison—and the work the inmates are doing to stop inhumane living conditions.
A recent documentary, The Alabama Solution, uses footage captured by inmates on the forced labor, high violence rates, intimidation and suspicious deaths of prisoners. In an effort to build on the film’s momentum, the families held a press conference on Thursday in which they said spoke out against the prison system’s high violence rates, low staffing and parole system. In 2020, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit accusing Alabama prisons of violating incarcerated men’s rights by failing to provide adequate protection and living conditions.
“For decades, incarcerated men and women in Alabama have lived in conditions that violate human rights, constitutional protection and basic dignity,” Free Alabama Movement Press Secretary Clara Brooks, whose brother is incarcerated, told the Associated Press.
The state’s inmates are planning a work strike in which they will cease kitchen, laundry and janitorial labor essential for day-to-day operations. They’re demanding that Alabama repeal the habitual offender act, reform sentencing practices, create a conviction review unit and change the labor system.
The group also denounced the construction of the new $1.25 billion men’s prison in Elmore County, near where the press conference was held. The state used pandemic funds to help build the facility is expected to be completed by October 2026, and it will be the largest “megaprison” in the state, with 4,000 beds.
The Free Alabama Movement is calling for the strike to begin on Feb. 8, 2026, WIAT reports.
Rufus Ricks Jr., who was formerly incarcerated, told the outlet that the fight for better conditions is imperative.
“Is this really what we want to bring back to our society?” he said. “Or do we actually want to bring back strong, educated men who want to be positive and impact in their communities?”
The last time Alabama prisoners held a labor strike was in 2022, when thousands participated. The Marshall Project reported an attempt to “starve out” the protest. At that time, Gov. Kay Ivey called the group’s list of demands “unreasonable.” That list included changes to parole and sentencing laws. Alabama’s new prison will be named after Ivey.
ICYMI
Singer Carl Carlton, known for “She’s a Bad Mamma Jama” and “Everlasting Love,” has died at age 72.
As Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) steps up to run for U.S. Senate, her pastor, Frederick Haynes III of Friendship-West Baptist Church, will run for her former congressional seat.
Jeremy O. Harris has been released from custody after spending three weeks in jail on suspicion of smuggling illegal drugs into Japan.
A Bronx man has been charged with attempted murder in connection with the shooting of New York Jets player Kris Boyd.
Beyoncé and Venus Williams, along with Nicole Kidman, will join Anna Wintour as co-chairs of the Met Gala in 2026.
The son of opera singer Jubilant Sykes was arrested on suspicion of stabbing his father to death at his home in Santa Monica, Calif..
Detroit mayor-elect Mary Sheffield married Rickey Jackson Jr. in a private ceremony.
Oklahoma Black Lives Matter leader Tashella Sheri Amore Dickerson was indicted on 20 counts of fraud and five counts of money laundering.
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Now we know who she is and her hate will be self-destruction and her being a pariah.
Thanks for the heads up, I donated to Ms Ahmed's legal fund.