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Billionaire Mocked a Black Girl 'Dance This Waltz, I'll Adopt You' — His Smirk Died When She Moved

Billionaire Mocked a Black Girl 'Dance This Waltz, I'll Adopt You' — His Smirk Died When She Moved

Chapter 19

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The financial fallout began on Tuesday: Braddock Holdings stock dropped 18% in ten days; three institutional investors pulled out; the company's largest commercial tenant terminated their lease agreement, citing irreconcilable differences in values.Lucille Voss filed her emergency petition on Monday. By Thursday, an online petition to save the Harlem Community Arts Center had collected 800,000 signatures. The City Council voted unanimously to designate the center as a protected cultural heritage site; the demolition was blocked permanently. Braddock Holdings lost the development rights and the deposit.The board of directors removed Cornelius from his position as chairman six weeks after the gala. The vote was unanimous; his own brother-in-law cast the deciding vote. The press release said, "Mutual agreement to pursue other interests." Everyone understood what it meant.A civil lawsuit followed: emotional distress, public humiliation, exploitation of a ward of the state. A team of pro bono lawyers took Daphne's case. The settlement came three months later: $1.2 million placed in a trust fund accessible to Daphne on her nineteenth birthday. Cornelius signed without going to court; he couldn't afford another news cycle.Six months after the gala, Daphne Wallace enrolled at the American Classical Dance Academy on a full scholarship. She was the youngest student in the program's history. She carried one suitcase, one manila folder, and a clear plastic bag with a pair of silver shoes.Bernice Fontaine was invited to join the academy as a senior instructor. She accepted on one condition: that she continue teaching community classes at the Harlem Community Arts Center every Saturday, the same way she had for twelve years. The academy agreed without hesitation.Lucille Voss established the Josephine Wallace Memorial Fund: a permanent scholarship endowment for Black dancers denied opportunity because of systemic bias. Initial funding: $2 million raised in ninety days from donors who had been in the room that night.The Harlem Community Arts Center reopened its dance program with expanded facilities and a bronze plaque by the entrance that read: "In memory of Josephine Wallace, who danced alone and made the world believe."Six months to the day after the gala, Daphne performed her first recital at the academy. She danced Shostakovich's Waltz No. 2: the same piece, the same technique, the same silent footfall.The auditorium held three hundred seats; every one was filled. In the front row, one seat was empty. On it sat a pair of silver dance shoes, scuffed and worn, the straps softened by decades of use. A small card was propped against the heel. It read: Reserved: Josephine Wallace.
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Billionaire Mocked a Black Girl 'Dance This Waltz, I'll Adopt You' — His Smirk Died When She Moved

20 Part