"There's a little Black woman walking, spraying stuff on the sidewalks and trees on Elizabeth and Florence... I don't know what the hell she's doing. Scares me, though."

Oh, people! *head thump* 
It's 2023.  Please: let's just, let's just be better than this... 

Go out there and just... kindly ask questions of the children if you're confused about what they're doing. Don't be afraid to talk to other people. Even the children coming up in your neighborhood. It's how you learn things.  (Well, that and reading, studying and experimenting.  Collecting lantern flies too.) They're children, for heaven's sake. People in your neighborhood.  They're our future.

photo by Andrew Hurley/Yale University

Bobbi Wilson, who is Black, 9, and in 4th Grade, made headlines when former Caldwell Borough Council member Gordon Lawshe, who is white, called local police on the girl.

She was collecting spotted lanternfly specimens. Her neighbor became frightened and called the cops

On Oct. 22, Lawshe was home, and things in the mostly white neighborhood seemed copacetic. But looking at the tree-lined street, Lawshe saw something scary. Recognizing it was not an emergency per se, he called the police department dispatcher instead.

"There's a little Black woman walking, spraying stuff on the sidewalks and trees on Elizabeth and Florence," Lawshe told the dispatcher, according to a call obtained by CNN.

"I don't know what the hell she's doing. Scares me, though," Lawshe added.

Outside, Bobbi, a petite child who wears pink-framed glasses, was doing her bit to comply with the state's Stomp it Out! campaign, which urges New Jersey residents to help eradicate the spotted lanternfly infestation. She'd learned about it at school and made her own version of an insect repellent she'd seen on TikTok. Making her way from tree to tree, Bobbi would spray the bugs, pluck them from the tree and drop them into a plastic bottle.

Bobbi was still at it when an officer arrived, curious about what she was doing. Body camera footage shows officer Kevin O'Neill approach the child before her mother, Monique Joseph, intervenes.

"Am I in trouble?" the small girl asks.

"No," Joseph and O'Neill respond simultaneously. Joseph adds, "How many trees did you save?"

O'Neill explains that he was responding to a call made by Lawshe. The information appears to baffle Joseph, who said that she has lived across the street from the 71-year-old for eight years and that they are on friendly terms.

Maybe he was one of those "friendly to your face, but really not so nice" guys who openly admit their problems with Others, but not to their face...

In conclusion, Yale University honored the budding young scientist, commending her efforts:

The university entered Bobbi's collection of 27 spotted lanternflies — an extremely invasive species that is harmful to trees and other plants — into the Peabody Museum of Natural History database. Bobbi was also presented with the title of "donor scientist" during the Jan. 20 ceremony.
"We wanted to show her bravery and how inspiring she is, and we just want to make sure she continues to feel honored and loved by the Yale community," Ijeoma Opara, an assistant professor at the school, said in a  statement. 

Let's set this one to the chorus of Freddie Mercury/Queen's, Don't Stop Me Now!  (Never mind the verses, the chorus sure applies here...) Know hope, little black woman, know hope. And never ever let 'em stop ya! (-- from collecting bugs even, if that's your thing...) 

Don't stop me now I'm having such a good time
I'm having a ball
Don't stop me now... 
If you wanna have a good time just give me a call
Don't stop me now ('Cause I'm having a good time)
Don't stop me now (Yes I'm havin' a good time)
I don't want to stop at all... 
Don't stop me don't stop me
Don't stop me hey hey hey
Don't stop me don't stop me
Ooh ooh ooh, I like it
Don't stop me don't stop me
Have a good time good time
Don't stop me don't stop me ah
Oh yeah
Alright