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Bronx Prodigy, 13, Heads to College

Autum Ashante speaks three languages; has 149 IQ

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 27, 2011 5:40 AM CDT

(Newser) – A young prodigy from the Bronx is headed to the University of Connecticut—at age 13. She already speaks three foreign languages: Arabic, Swahili, and Spanish. Her IQ tests at 149, better than most college students’. And she’s traveled the US performing spoken word, reports Black Voices via the Daily News. Autum Ashante was home-schooled by her father and retired teachers. “What she's doing is groundbreaking, but this is not about vanity,” her father says.

“It's about setting the tone for other black and Latino children who will come behind her. They're always being told they are underachievers. We want to show this can be done."

A screen grab from YouTube video.
A screen grab from YouTube video.   (YouTube)
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Autum Ashante talks about her work.   (YouTube)

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 65 comments
ezzy4863
Jun 28, 2011 10:24 PM CDT
This would of been a good article if the prodigy was white..... God forbid that we have an intelligent black 13 year old girl.... All I can say is good for her....And guess what..... I'm a white woman
anchower
Jun 27, 2011 8:39 PM CDT
I hate to think how many other such prodigies are being nipped in the bud due to malnutrition caused by a combination of welfare "reform," food deserts, and the like.
RolandoTouchstone
Jun 27, 2011 8:28 PM CDT
She already speaks three foreign languages: Arabic, Swahili, and Spanish. Her IQ tests at 149, better than most college students. First, does she fluently speak those languages?  It's not like being multilingual is a sign of genius.  I know several perfectly fluent trilingual teens.  Having all that time (homeschool) could definitely allow an AVERAGE kid to learn a fourth language. Also, the writer of this (lulz) "Black Voices" article isn't setting a good example of African intelligence himself.  IQ isn't determined by age dumbass. "Better than most college students" doesn't mean shit. Uno mas:  blacks and latinos always complain about how IQ tests (and other tests such as the SAT) discriminate against them for some idiotic reason (like OH THOSE CHINESE PEOPLES HAVE BEEN HERE FOR GENERATIONS, FOR LIKE THE 300 ANOS.  THEY KNOW THE CULTURE MORE. THAS WHY THEY DO BETTER. OH WAIT.)  <---black intelligence right there. If IQ tests are so flawed, why do they believe this result? Because it gives them something to hope for? Like, maybe that intelligence HASN'T been naturally selected against in the African race. I mean, the passage of slaves over the Atlantic had a high mortality rate, sometimes 50 percent. Who do you think survived, the weak nerds or the big brawny proto-athletes? Who do you think survived the slave life? The small intelligent Africans or the big dumb brutes? Brains were bred out through natural selection. Look at Obama, a very intelligent African-American. He's half white, and half AFRICAN-AFRICAN. Not African American. Yeah, strong people can be smart too. The above was a generalization. Mutations occur.

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