Sunday, October 25, 2009

The Amazing Miss Yolande Beckles – The Story So Far...

"I wonder how many GCSEs you need to become an 'educational motivator'?" mused the Daily Mirror's Jane Simon, reviewing the UK BBC2 TV series 'Don't Mess With Miss Beckles' in 2006. "Yolande Beckles arrives at Fortismere School in North London full of incoherent bluster about making these lazy middleclass kids knuckle down", she continued. "It's the kind of school where parents pay for extra private tuition - exam results are well above the national average - so her meddling might have been put to better use almost anywhere else. Still, she zeroes in on Josh, Luke and Tom who are more interested in electric guitars than electrons... They'll probably be playing Glastonbury when their more swotty classmates are employed as charity muggers or waiting to hear how their interview for that job at the call centre went. 'Ditch your girlfriend!' Yolande commands Tom, who sensibly ignores her. 'You've got the next 20 years of your life to party!' she lies to Luke (how many 37-year-olds do you know who still have sleep-overs?). 'Take charge!' she orders Luke's mum - whose response is to kick her son out of the house entirely. If this series rings the final bell for the TV busybody, Miss Beckles will have served one useful purpose, at least."

Reading that review three years on, one doesn't know whether to laugh, cry or run away and hide. Laugh because Ms. Simon unwittingly hit the nail smack on the head with her implication that Yolande Beckles might be something less than a genuine, qualified motivator of children. Cry because during that intervening period the "charity mugging" has been performed not by the spotty swots of Muswell Hill, but by Miss Beckles herself, leaving families on two continents bitterly regretting having engaged with a serial swindler who not only made off with their hard-earned cash, but dashed their dreams in the process. Or hide, because more than one person has come forward to accuse the woman of serious assault and even the attempted murder of those she regards as a threat to her criminal activities.

This is the story of The Amazing Miss Yolande Beckles.
Read more...
Yolande Beckles at Fortismere School
The documentary series met with mixed reactions, mostly negative. "Her methods have caused outrage among child psychologists and parents", claimed Yvonne Roberts in The Guardian, while Amelia Hill in The Observer wrote "How Miss Beckles Messed Up My Son" – reporting how a "teenager's mother attacks the BBC and its tough-talking 'educational entrepreneur' after the show was allowed to film a destructive family row." Similar attacks appeared in a raft of newspapers.

Despite the criticisms, Yolande - who by that time had adopted the nom de guerre "Yo!" - had become a recognised name in the British education sector and on this basis was invited to take part in the Teachers' TV series The Bell, in which a live audience of teachers were entertained by the celebrity educational motivator. Introducing Miss Beckles as "a woman who'd be welcomed into the bosom of any teacher or parent", Peter Curran went on to qualify his comment with a spookily predictive: "or would she...?"

Inevitably, both the original TV series and this guest appearance were soon forgotten and nothing more was heard of Yolande Beckles for a year and a half.


Then, on 21st August 2007, she burst back onto the celebrity scene once again when she featured in a two-page exposé in the London Evening Standard. According to Standard journalist Robert Mendick, TV education guru Miss Beckles had taken thousands of pounds from deprived schoolchildren in the London Borough of Hackney for a trip to Trinidad and Tobago and then cancelled it at the last minute, leaving the kids behind while she flew off to a Moonies' religious cult conference in the South Korean capital.

The families of a dozen London teenagers, according to Mendick, each paid hard-saved money to Miss Beckles' company Global Graduates to send their children off on a Caribbean educational holiday that was "too-good-to-be-true". And so it transpired. The parents heard nothing more and each family ended up £1,000 out of pocket. Miss Beckles' protestations that the last-minute cancellation resulted from her son suffering an epileptic fit turned out to be completely untrue. Investigations failed to show any sign of flight bookings to Port of Spain nor any hotel reservations for the Hackney children. Yolande's personal booking on Virgin Atlantic from Gatwick to Seoul and back, on the other hand, proved easy to trace.

Quoting from Dr. Iva Gloudon, Director of Sport and Physical Education at the St. Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad, Mendick wrote: "It is important for all involved to note that Yolande is a stranger to the truth." It reminded me of that Churchillian expression: "a perpetrator of terminological inexactitudes", or as President George Bush less eloquently described his own verbal errors, someone who "has misspoken". Yolande Beckles is certainly someone who has misspoken - with consummate perfection of the art.

The spoof blog post on the Yolande Beckles exposéThe following day, a satirical lampooning political blog, purporting to be edited by Hackney Council Labour Group Chief Whip Luke Akehurst, but actually penned by some unknown alter ego, published a lengthy post entitled Blackwashing Hackney History:

"Yesterday's Evening Standard filled almost two entire pages with an exposé of alleged con-artist Yolande Beckles and her disappearance with £12,000 of cash raised by black parents in Hackney to send their children on an educational holiday in Trinidad last month", declared Luke Akehurst's doppelgänger. "As of this evening there is nothing of this story to be found on the Hackney Groveller [Hackney Gazette] website, suggesting either that they were hoping for a scoop or that nobody has told them the news. According to The Standard, Miss Beckles - CEO of motivational company Global Graduates - promised to take the children on a trip to boost the confidence and self-esteem of black youngsters, but instead absconded with the cash to South Korea where she attended meetings arranged by the religious cult 'The Moonies'.

"The paper went on to state that Yolande Beckles was sacked in 1999 from Hackney charity The Windsor Fellowship for allegedly misusing a credit card and other financial misdemeanours including contracting the services of her own mother for excessive fees. It noted that at least one of Miss Beckles' previous businesses has failed, leaving debts of £125,000.

"The Evening Standard made reference to the fact that this woman had starred in a three-part BBC2 series entitled 'Don't Mess With Miss Beckles', leading veteran Guardian journalist Angela Neustatter to comment: 'I wouldn't have put [her] in charge of a little-favoured houseplant' and a distraught parent to write: 'The programme was atrocious and a total fix... When I saw it, everything I had objected to they left in... [she] was terrible and her behaviour was wholly inappropriate.'

"Of far more direct relevance to Hackney, however, amongst the treasures of this carefully researched piece of investigative journalism, was that Yolande Beckles had earlier this year allegedly managed to extract grant funding for 10 sessions on student leadership skills from Alan Wood, CEO of The Learning Trust and the man responsible for all education services in the Borough. Apparently she had little difficulty convincing Hackney's gullible education supremo to part with £50,000 to fund these educational activities, for reasons some have unkindly suggested may be connected with her alleged propensity to excite white middle-aged men. Whatever the real reason, The Learning Trust has now distanced itself by a short mile and Alan Wood is declining interviews, preferring to entrust a deputy to brush off questions.

"As a representative of financially hard-pressed Hackney council tax payers, I do hope that this affair is not being blackwashed and the full truth will be revealed. I can only hope that matters are resolved rapidly and any money found to have been obtained fraudulently and/or used inappropriately is returned to the Borough's coffers or those of The Learning Trust. Especially before any warrants are executed upon Miss Beckles by any as yet unnamed foreign governments, leading to the possible sequestration of her UK assets."


This blog post resulted in a postbag of comments and, according to its author, several private emails offering information and advice. One of the first commenters pointed out that, despite having been defrauded of a large sum of money by Miss Beckles, The Learning Trust website still listed her as a 2007 Trailblazer. Although this was subsequently rectified, even today the site continues to promote the "motivational education speaker" as a guest speaker at the 2007 Trailblazers morale-boosting event at the Hackney Empire theatre.

A couple of months later, an anonymous source provided an invaluable clue as to the location of the errant Miss Beckles: "I had the misfortune to have to deal with Yolande last year when she was trying to get more involved in local networks in Hackney", she wrote. "By co-incidence, my boyfriend also worked for her in the 90s and never got paid. A quick Google search reveals she is now stateside trying to set up a company called "Think Global Kids." Is anyone actually trying to hold her to account or press charges in the UK - or has she got away scot free? I don't know how to take this forward so I am posting on any blogs I can find."

The informant provided this link which, although short on detail, confirmed that Yolande Beckles had transported herself to Los Angeles, with plans to "go big" in the State of California.
Yolande Beckles registers her new company

The fake Luke Akehurst published a comment stating: "I believe that an arrest warrant has been issued for Ms. Beckles by the courts in Trinidad & Tobago. Here in the UK she is still regarded as a trailblazer by many in the Labour Party. But then so was Mark Trotter." [a reference to a paedophile former Hackney social worker, care home abuser and Labour Group Chief Whip, still defended by some in the local party today]. Whether any such writ was ever issued is uncertain, but it would be interesting to discover if this was true. Perhaps someone from T&T could confirm.

Various messages were exchanged on the spoof blog, offering opportunities for angry creditors to meet up, but hampered by the mistaken belief amongst many that they were conversing with the genuine Luke Akehurst. 'Anonymous' from Los Angeles threw doubt on the entire accusatory exchange: "As we all know, the internet is full of hyperbole, lies, urban legends and people venting their spleens on others... There doesn't appear to be much interest about Ms. Beckles on this site beyond a few of you. If so many people were harmed, I would think that there would be more folks interested in pursuing her. On the other hand, if what has been said about her in the press is false, why wouldn't she pursue slander or libel actions in your courts?"

Yolande Beckles funding mystery - Alan Wood appeals for anyone who knows the whereabouts of his moneyThe Doubting Thomas was met with the following response: "If anonymous from LA wants evidence, why not check with Companies House in London on Global Graduates Ltd. You can see there that this company, which was basically Yo herself, never filed accounts. You can also contact Clerkenwell and Hackney courts and ask about court judgements won against her. I know there are number of employment ones for unpaid wages. Again against GG, not necessarily her. Why not also contact some of her old customers and or sponsors such as the College of Law. I know they will have lots of info. Or why not contact Alan Wood, the Chief Exec of Hackney Learning Trust who employed her when she allegedly stole money off children in Hackney. I am sure his office will... explain why the police are investigating her on their behalf. Finally, why not put your name and number either on here or send to Luke and he can pass it on to others on this site who clearly have info. But trust me there is lots of real evidence as to this woman's criminality and moral lack. I know lots of good people who have been stung by this woman. Please do not trust her! She is dangerous."

It was clearly time for the lurkers to step forward - and the first of these was 'Avenger'. Readers whose interest in Yolande was confined to her alleged financial misconduct were shocked to see allegations of grievous bodily harm and attempted murder: "Well, Yolande Beckles is living in LA. Her 14-yr-old daughter Diandra is a student at Beverley Hills High School and has a listing on Facebook. BHHS have confirmed her as a student. Now for some history regarding Yolande Beckles. In 1995 Miss Beckles ended up living in a hostel in Streatham with her daughter after alleging she was a victim of domestic violence. The victim was in fact her former partner (her daughter's father), who suffered knife injuries at the hands of Miss Beckles at their former home in Tulse Hill. Later in 2006 he committed suicide after taking a drugs overdose."

Avenger continued: "She had previous companies called Moving Parts (dance teaching) and Three Circles Ltd (Education/Training) - both failed leaving debts. Miss Beckles also lived with and worked for Yvonne Thompson CBE (CEO ASAP Communications) but, after financial misconduct, was sacked in 1995. In 1996 Miss Beckles relocated to Northamptonshire with her child. However she again was alleged to have assaulted her new partner, leaving him with a severe head injury. After fearing arrest she fled back to London. Miss Beckles then reinvented herself and found a new partner, Mr. Colin Logier (father to her son), but several years later she faced charges of assault and attempted poisoning of this partner. A trial lasted several weeks at Bromley Crown Court circa 2006. However Miss Beckles managed to hire an expensive barrister and got off. Miss Beckles is an expert con artist and is so convincing - no wonder there have been so many victims over the years. Perhaps now it is time for Yolande Beckles to spend some time in custody so we the public feel safer in our beds."Yolande Beckles is tried for grievously assaulting her partner

What followed next made my blood run cold. The outburst from 'Avenger' prompted Hollywood landlady Olivia Goodson-Shields to step forward and tell her jaw-dropping tale. It's a lengthy diatribe, but one well worth reading in full:

"Yolande and both children arrived in Los Angeles December 24th 2007. They rented two rooms from my family in Hollywood... It is insane that we let it go on so long and trust me, we are blown away that even after we were sure she was a con and confronted her, she cried and begged and pleaded that under no circumstance would she ever do something like that. OMG! She really is evil and evil entered our home and a black cloud covered us for almost three months. If it could go wrong it did. I asked Yolande to leave our home March 17th with her two children. I would have kicked her butt to the curb long before that had it not been for the kids. The money was always on the way, and the tv show was within arms length, if only we would give it another few days... and days and days.

"We were not sure if her daughter was part of the con or a victim. Yes, she left our home and us $15,000 in debt. She never paid her rent, utilities or food bills. Colin found her through his son's phone calls and Yolande did receive maintenance money. She did also receive a large sum of money that her partner in the UK sent to her from some grant for her company. Instead of paying us the money she owed, she and her children went on a shopping and tourist spree of Hollywood and, $8,000 later, there was no money.

"She jumped on her visa which ran out on March 20th... has her kids in school in Hollywood and has been using my address for everything. I do have the L.A.P.D. working on it... Her daughter is not at Beverly Hills High but I can tell you which school she is at. I've been in touch with the British Embassy and they have revoked her passport so she and the kids can't travel anywhere except back to the UK... I'm contacting the US embassy this week at the suggestion of the UK embassy.

Yolande Beckles - in the footsteps of Dr. Crippen..?"She left us with a phone bill of $1,800 to the UK which took place over a 5-day spree of her trying to collect money. She may think she got away with the long con with us and yes, we were much much too soft because of the kids, but that woman ruined our credit and has put us in a position that now we may be evicted. We rented to her because we needed the income, not for a moment thinking we could be ruined in a mere 2½ months by this evil... I did know she tried to poison Colin. She came to our home because of a mutual friend from the UK who lives in Hollywood. She told me about Colin after I told about her to my daughter, who was now confronting Yolande regarding the long-con; my daughter became so ill she couldn't get out of bed at all the week before I told Yolande to leave. Yolande kept making food for my daughter. Later, we realized that because my daughter was confronting Yolande and I was beginning to realize she may be right, she had to shut my daughter up... Hell, if she killed her, I'd need comfort, right? Then she could move right in to help.

"She applied to 3 US banks for business and personal checking accounts and wrote a check to our landlord for the funds she owed us and that check bounced. We had to pay it back to them and it put us way behind financially. She is receiving overdraft notices from these banks daily for insufficient funds. I've contacted the bank to tell them she is a fraud. I've contacted the Los Angeles Unified School district to tell them she's using our address for her children' schools without our permission. I've explained she in our home as a vacation rental and left without paying. She's enrolled in educational classes for herself and the fee she paid to take the classes has bounced. She put her things in storage and those checks have bounced and they've locked her out of her storage locker.

"William Morris never asked her to come to the US
[a reference to an earlier suggestion that the William Morris entertainment agency had invited her to the US after seeing her BBC2 series], her agent in the UK said WM would be interested in speaking with her if she were in Los Angeles. I took her to her appointment at WM and nothing has come of it as I know. There is sooooo much more if anyone really wants to make sure this woman spends time in jail and has the information to add to what I've got, let me know. I will not stop till she is behind bars.

"She is not a fit mother for those children. Her daughter is the primary care-giver of Euan. However her daughter, since enrolling in public school in Feb., has not made the best choices for her friendships. The worst thing is she wanted to get involved with a church here and I introduced her to dear friends who attend Agape. She moved right in trying to worm her way into another con... She is an evil woman. I'm on a mission... anyone want to get involved?"

If this wasn't spine-chilling enough, additional information that came my way shortly after this post listed no fewer than four cases of attempted murder - the alleged poisoning of two different victims, an attack using a high heel as a weapon and the multiple stabbings of yet another person. Knowing the source of that information, I have little doubt that the accusations are based in substance.

There were several calls at this time for those with information to collaborate in a concerted attempt to bring everything to the attention of the authorities, but for one reason or another this failed to materialise. Months passed, with occasional internet searches turning up little or nothing new about the activities of the resilient Miss Beckles.
Yolande Beckles - a psycho, or just your regular serial attacker?

"Yolande is now in hiding from a great many very angry people. Try searching the internet and you'll realise that she's very well-concealed", observed the spoof Luke Akehurst, "unless, of course, you know better. In which case I'd love to hear." The reaction came less than a week later: "Hello! Yolanda is very visible and worming her way into every available children's program in Los Angeles. Her youngest child attends Rosewood Avenue Elementary School located on Croft Avenue in Los Angeles. She is actively pursuing financial support for the 'Think Global Kids Summer Enrichment Program' within the Los Angeles educational community. STOP HER NOW!!!"

And it was that response that led to me launching this blog, specifically aimed at collating together all the available information about Yolande Beckles and providing a forum for the interchange of new information and the pursuit of justice in her case. For those who prefer, I've also established a Facebook page.

How much of the information posted to the Akehurst blog is true? I'm a facilitator rather than an investigator, but a few basic pieces of research proved very easy. Firstly, and perhaps unusually for someone who has spent the past few years avoiding various authorities and angry creditors, Yolande has her own Wikipedia entry, although admittedly it says relatively little:

Yolande Beckles has a spartan wikipage"Yolande Beckles is a British educational motivator and entrepreneur. She founded Global Graduates in 1998 (which collapsed in 2003) and later had a television program called 'Don't Mess with Miss Beckles' which was aired on BBC2 in 2006. After Global Graduates collapsed, debts of around £125,000 were left unpaid and at least 19 County Court Judgments have been lodged against her. She was born in London in 1962 to parents of Trinidadian origin. She has two siblings, Brian and Hermione, and two children, Diandra and Euan."

A valuable clue to Yolande's present whereabouts lies in the final three words. The trouble with having children these days is that they tend to keep their heads very firmly above the parapet, even if mum would prefer them to maintain a more discrete profile. Daughter Diandra's Facebook page reveals everything one might wish to know about the family comings and goings, through the details of this popular girl's 162 registered friends.

Bromley High School features repeatedly amongst the earlier members of this friendship ring. This concurs with a comment from 'Web Researcher' a year ago, giving an address for Diandra's grandmother Gloria in a block of flats in Bromley, although a recent check suggests that she may have moved away. Diandra's more recent friends reveal her current educational establishment as Hollywood Senior High School. That accords with Mrs. Goodson-Shields' comment: "Her daughter is not at Beverly Hills High but I can tell you which school she is at."

What do we know about the whereabouts and activities of Yolande Beckles today? Well, she's certainly living in or around West Hollywood/Beverly Hills and engaged in various "educational" activities. Her business is Think Global Kids (no known website) and it ran a summer of fun, education, the arts, music and dance for children from 3-12 years old at the Will and Ariel Durant Library, W. Sunset Boulevard. Interestingly, Friday classes for toddlers are run by a Miss Yolanda. It's a smart choice of organisational name for anyone who might be seeking to enjoy the benefits of the good reputations of the unrelated Think-Global Kids based in Vancouver, the Global Kids Connect organisation based out of West Los Angeles and sponsored by UCLA, The Californian activity group Kids Think Global or the Global Kids organisation from New York.

Diandra is at Hollywood Senior High School and Euan attends Rosewood Avenue Elementary School. Yolande herself is Principal of Think Global Kids, a Los Angeles non-profit organisation (now there's a laugh!). The Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council hosted a meeting of The Women's Club of Hollywood this summer at which Miss Beckles appealed for $4,500 to assist in meeting the cost of the community room fee at the Will and Ariel Durant Branch Library. I can't help wondering whether her grant application was successful and, if so, whether the library meeting room bill was settled or if they are still waiting for payment?Yolande Beckles comes to Hollywood - where dreams are made

As far as I know, no-one has yet been found floating face down in a Hollywood swimming pool. But in telling this story, I can't help thinking about a certain Billy Wilder film. Maybe, like Gloria Swanson's Norma Desmond, Miss Beckles is yet to have her most famous moment in front of the cameras. Like the arrest of that other occasional actor, O. J. Simpson, with millions of viewers glued to their television sets. Let's just hope that when that time comes - and it's surely when and not if - very expensive (but presumably unpaid) barristers don't secure a similar verdict.

So, where do we all go from here? I, for obvious reasons, shall remain anonymous. That will prevent Hollywood's most expensive law firms from incurring stacks of unpaid bills for work in pursuit of injunctions. Everyone else should be as open as they feel able on this website or on the Facebook page and can also exchange information via my email address should they wish to keep their own details confidential. I look forward to the episodes to come.

Postscript: Gloria and Seaford Beckles' new address in Islington can be found in a more recent post.

50 comments:

  1. i wish i had read this only a month ago. She owes me a fortune and i was in LA. Would have loved to track her down. But there is more than one way to skin a cat (or crook). please keep posting her wear abouts and lets let all she comes into contact with know the truth.
    I think a call to the library may be in order.
    Anyone in LA want to help?

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  2. Reminds of the Movie "Catch Me If You Can"...Perhaps Ms Beckles Life is worthy of a Movie Script?...As one of her victims I can testify that having her Jimmy Choo's embeded in your skull and enduring hospital stiches wasn't fun.(1996)

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  3. Please, feel free to contact me anytime, I'm not anonymous I'm here in Hollywood and ready to MESS WITH MISS BECKLES! omshields@yahoo.com

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    1. well Miss Beckles is now working for one of the board members of pasadena school district here in California. She is the personal assistant. Which I dont know why a board member has a personal assistant ?

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  4. It's down to you guys to "keep it coming". I don't make this stuff up - I just publish what people send me. So get the information in on your experiences with Yolande and I'll keep it coming.

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  5. This woman should be on the FBI's most wanted list! She tried to buy a car from our dealership and her paperwork was completely false...it wasn't even her information it belonged to someone else.

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  6. Why not refer the matter to LAPD? I don't have her address, but it wouldn't be hard to find it given that we know which schools her children attend.

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  7. These are numbers for Beckles Parents in UK (00) 44 2077002647 and Sister (00) 44 2085316258 they might be able to bring closure here......

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  8. Thanks for the phone numbers of Gloria Beckles and Hermione Beckles. If anyone has access to reverse phone services, perhaps they would care to provide addresses.

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  9. Gloria Beckles N09 Tayport Close,Pemberton Estate,Islington,London..Hermione (Sister) 3 Castleton Road,London E17....

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  10. I'm a documentary filmmaker and TV show creator in Hollywood, CA. This summer, I worked with Yolande Beckles and saw for myself how amazing she is at teaching children. Amazing is too soft a word. These are underprivileged children who'd have been completely forgotten by our deplorable school system, were it not for Yolande. From 6 to sixteen, what these children experienced, learned and RETAINED was nothing short of remarkable. US parents consider Yolande a godsend, and have showered her with letters of gratitude. She operated this school at NO benefit to herself. While other kids were wasting away with video games, her kids were far better prepared to return to school, and considered this the best summer of their lives. Six year olds were learning things that I didn't know! It was one of the most inspiring experiences I've ever had, and I consider myself blessed to know such a remarkable woman. I've given up my whole summer to do a documentary about what this amazing woman has accomplished, and how she's fighting for the education of the children OUR OWN STATE has all but given up on.

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  11. Hi Chantal. Just looked you up. According to YouTube you are a professional comedienne, aka. Girlof1000Faces, most famous for "Perfect Choice Internet Dating Service". Nice to meet you. Any chance of a virtual date?

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  12. Here in the UK people have showered Yolande Beckles with letters as well, Chantal - mostly invoices for services delivered and demands to know where their chilren's overseas trip money has gone - but unfortunately they have not had any responses.

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  13. Chantal:
    As a parent here in Los Angeles, I can assure you that most do not view her as a 'god send' we are furious that she is trying to pass herself off as any kind of expert on anything and trying to find away to make her go away.

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  14. The simplest way to "make her go away" is to send me her address and the details of her employment. I'll then make sure that her landlords and employers are made aware of who they are dealing with. No house, no job and she'll go away.

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  15. Yolande is no Expert and has no Teaching/Academic or Childcare Qualifications..She is a so called self appointed Guru who trades on her British Television Programme "Don't Mesh With Miss Beckles"...Unfortunately the BBC later admitted they did not carry out any background checks on Yolande and if they would have not made the TV Documentary...By Yolande going on National Television her fraudulent past and criminal behaviour were exposed so she stole all those kids monies and left the Country.....

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  16. To the anonymous car dealer:

    "This woman should be on the FBI's most wanted list! She tried to buy a car from our dealership and her paperwork was completely false...it wasn't even her information it belonged to someone else."

    Please contact me urgently by email at beckleswatch@mail.com.

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  17. whoevr is behind this bs(blogspot) is very sour, I can c that maybe a failed bpartner? or maybe lvr? or wathever...meet the person, listen to both side of the story...then reason....most of what is being said is without foundation, done malisciously to hurt someone that is asking the right questions and breaking the sta quo in educating our kids, why dont we all ask those that r hurting? maybe she has stepeed on some toes or should i say real shaddy dealings with our kids education and some suposse fraud dealings at a school that she is asking the right questions, those shaddy one(s) r trying to block her from uncovering the truth, well quess what i will help her ask those questions here, about a 501 non profit, operating out of a school, no financial reports, no state reports that r required, no audits, where is the money, receipts, etc.? she didnt take it, then who did ? I will contact the secretary of state and the attorney general of Ca to start an indeep investigation on this 501 non prof ? who is the agent of service for this group ? this investigation will continue.......I will give impartial answers to all.....

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  18. bring it on bring it on bring it on like i thought she wanted to do something like save public education like are there not bigger issues than a 501 at a small school get over it and btw where are her credentials why does she get so upset when she is asked to show something to give credibility to her "expertise" in education watch her video like whatever give it up. good will prevail light over darkness ---

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  19. Seems like Yolande, or "anonymous" who posted on 2/8 @ 7:23 pm is doing exactly what she is complaining about others doing to her. Fanning the flames of speculation with nothing but innuendo and malicious gossip. Her divisive politics and bullying ways has done nothing to help the school or its kids as evidenced by the post above.

    If you are that concerned with a certain non-profit, go through the proper channels of investigating it as opposed to alluding to a misappropriation of funds (something you seem to know about all to well!) on some random blog. If you're really upstanding about the kids, than don't use this as forum to throw stones and deflect attention from your own misdeeds.

    And please for the love of all things sacred, embrace spell check.

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  20. Anonymous above....

    Soon you and your whole mafia of misguided adults, will be exposed for the cowards you all are. I can't wait until the principal of the school unmask you all and hang you out to dry. Your hatered of a women whom you barley know has jepordized our wonderful school. Again, this is not Yolande....this is a Rosewood Parent and I'll give you a hint to who I am...you want to find me, I'm always at the school and I know first hand of how much Yo has helped me and others like me understand more about the school system and what "good" parents do to enhance their children's learning.

    Stop bashing Yolande and go make your husband a sandwich for lunch! Guess what, we know who you are! hahahahaha.....Soon you will be exposed.

    FYI, the parents of Rosewood will be starting our own blog...ParentswholoveYoBeckles.com All of you are welcome to see the 1000's of parents and "real" adults who love Yo Beckles. Coming soon so all of you check it out!

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  21. Mafia? Cowards? Really? Who's resorting to childish name calling and threats? Really great conflict resolution, is this what a "good" parent does? Your display of maturity is underwhelming. Keep up the great work, you're proving the point of this blog.

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  22. this blog was created to divert attention from the real issues, it is a hate blog, against a woman that is black & exposing the status quo in education, but not all educators r against her, only those that feel the real heat of change, god bless her, the initiators of this blogspot are the real problem, they use it to try to scare parents from learning the real issues behind the contents, Why dont you say who you really are? Again, something fishy is going on with the maker of this blog? is he(her) involved in the missuse of funds over at a certain school ? the truth is really what is the school getting from those so called friend(s)? Why r they running scared of the real questions? One thing is to have a failed bussines venture, but another is to take merchants money under false pretense of so called friends and use it for other than the proposed projects benefiting themselves, under ca law it prohibits non profits from using funds for the purpose of profit, also to pay for salaries of its own board of directors, that r not part of the proposed projects....more to come...the real truth is there is no receipts, audits or financial statements of several of these so called "friends of.." this is no small matter when you consider the real facts and amounts invested in these so called..... not all friends are like those described above.... there are honest ones 2, but let the lausd inspector general start an investigation to weed out those abussers of the system, dont blame Yolande for asking the right questions....an also who ever said you needed credentials to be a good parent ? a good quesstioneer? a motivator ? Does the person (s) behind this cowardly blogspot have credential(s) if so what kind ? hate cred? you should embrace what she is doing if you r real in your intentions to make it better for public education stop the status quo from keeping real learning from our kids, thats the real issue here, not yolande personal problems, or failed bussiness ventures, ey there is something called bankruptcy u know..she is entitled to it.. ? oh will u stop intruding and releasing private info on her kids? family ? whoever u r is disgusting...but u started it lets continue we r on ur tail.....to discover ur motives behind this bs......oh my spelling ? u r my teacher, plese correct my spelling ah........more to come, si se puede....vive yolande.....keep it going girl, let them clean up their act, stop hidding behind our kids, release all financial documents of the "Friends of Rosewood" for the past 5 years....This is a formal request to Lausd inspector General, and the Secretary of state of ca on this 501 np......dadadada...

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  23. You just made a formal request to the LAUSD Inspector General in the comment section of some blog. Alrighty then...good luck with that and whatever other crusades or should I say witch hunts you have going on because without proof, you are just as bad as the folks on this site you've been complaining about.

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  24. wow!this is another example of the interesting times we live in.it seems to me that there is a parent political battle going on.on one side there is a women who just so happens to have a lot of information posted on the net about her(wikipedia,facebook,etc,etc).this does not happen by accident.she has put herself in a position to be examined very closely.now from what i have read and heard(people talk too much,you ever heard about glass houses)she has some skeletons.we all do.the problem is her skeletons seem to point in the same direction.there is something strange going on here.this women has been accussed of various charges but the best we can ascertain is she has never been convicted.(felony convictions will prevent entry into the u.s.)so obviously the us gov had no problem letting her enter the country.the person running this blog seems to have it out for her.so be it(see above)i wrote this much and have not mentioned the most important thing.KIDS isnt that what elementary school is here for.the example being set is not good.things are afoot at school (if you are an aware parent at rosewood you know what's going on).let the proper authorities sort things out and all of us will know.and please remember that this is about our kids getting an education and not us getting our personal political jollies off!! longtime concerned rosewood parent

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  25. Lordie, you r an english 2tor? you should try to 2tor yourself in to honesty and not to be a perfect bh, yes I said it, AH, be critical of me, for trying to be impartial, you on 1 hand r the jry, prsecutr, etc.

    Ur friend alleges embezzle of funds, courts exist, prevails when one is right, if u dont know zilch about the case? In USA the last time I looked, you r innocent until proven guilty, BY THE courts, not your blog ah, maybe u r the failed one.

    Did u not tell ur friend 2 persue justice? Do u think by bs and creating more hatred and , racism, cause its a black lady ?

    Don't need to read about u, I already know who u r, and believe me i have tracked more than ur type, real criminals, not mouthass like u, I discover truth not fiction.

    In England there is no criminal case against Ms. Beckles,I investigated thru SY, and have documents to say there is no evidence of criminal activity or prosecution, allegations r just that, failed bussines and sour partners, triangles and u also a failed English 2tor ?

    In this new age of techno, blogs, the new way to hide oneself and endanger lives of others, u r contributing to this, I also spoke to your alleged former landlady allegation, there is no such incident, moved out of the building due to rent increase by new owners of the property, and not only her; others did also, ah. I do proper impartial investigations.

    Now lets get back to reality :
    Ms. Beckles is asking questions that u and ur others colleagues seem not to undrstand that is her right to ask....if anyone is bullying its your group of lying sources...I can make up my mind, by myself, I am capable of doing this without the help of hatred blogs and racism from your groupies.

    I have decided to come on this blog, cause I can c the partial view that u have improvised, I deal with proven facts and evidence, not assumptions or hear say as ur r doing.

    Your motives are spelled out very clear, divert the attention on the real issues, create distraction and confusion, misinformation on the topics, cause u r one of the persons not wanting to change the status quo of education in this country, you r benefitting from this as a failed english tutor (teacher?). How much more our children have to wait for this to change?

    She, Ms. Beckles, as done a favor by asking these questions? Yes, surely parents r onboard a revolution in this district, but peaceful, there are a lot of real good teachers out there that will welcome her inspirations, parents also, dont think that if she is out of the picture these questions will not come to haunt u, on the contrary m boy.

    My request for an investigation in to the friends of....fiasco is based on true evidence....oh did I not mention that it was done officially in writing to the proper authorities, wait and c....FOIA....FEDS, STATE, LAUSD DISTRICT.

    NOTICE THAT i AM NOT ACCUSING NO ONE OF WRONDOING, but I am requesting documentation to validate at least the last five years of financial accounting of the friends of.....and the proper documentation that is to be held for five years according to legal statutes of accounting standards, will u help me get these? or maybe a court order will help....someone have been eating the cheese that is for our kids, hope that your position is not paid by.....She, Ms. beckles, as stirred the wasp nest, the smoke is clearing, the truth will prevail.

    Oh, lordie, come here to Southhampton, c what marvelous things that ur not saying on ur smog glog....mean bs....I invite u to come back to England and c the real changes effected by ms. beckles questions on the status quo. You will be surprised how it as changed education in the UK.

    It is going to happen here, u like it or not, your tacticts of divertion and misinformation will not prevail, SHE IS NOT ALONE ANYMORE, PARENTS AND TEACHERS THAT REALLY WANT TO C CHANGES WILL PREVAIL. AMERICA IS ON THE WAGON OF CHANGE IN EDUCATION, FAILED PROMISES, BULLYING, AND ALL OF YOUR BS. SHALL NOT PREVAIL. ah only 4,096 characters per comment? shame on you bs

    tally ho.....chap

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  26. The internet can be used for good and for bad, facebook, wikipedia and all the above r not verifiable sources, u must follow proper chanells to investigate.....

    The maker of this blogspot have it in for ruining Ms. beckles, I wonder why ? I investigated the source, he is one sore lover looser, shame, shame, have you seen the subject matter? Fine looking lady, femme fatale, but wise to not let her (him) in to running her life....look at the dates of these allegations? She should file a restraining order against her being s.. harrased. Folks tha woman is asking questions ??????
    Why try to intimidate her and all this.....Someone is afraid of the cat or mouse getting loose, Why are some teachers of that school not embracing changes ? is it that they are afraid of job security ? same old sh..

    Some Badass Teachers gave the principal an ultimatum, you get rid of Ms. Beckles or we will get rid of....oh the power of the bad unions.....if it can happen to her, are you next ?

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  27. Its a Woman asking questions that are not in the best interest of some bad teachers at that school, oh and she is black and intelligent.

    Does she need a credential to be intelligent? some teachers think so, (the bad ones), lets run her out of our school, said them to the principal, don't you see that she will put our school in the limelight and that is dangerous?

    Lets accuse her of something, anything, lets accuse her of past mistakes (misfortunes)lets use the internet, use the bad stuff, hide the good ones, she will cause our parents to revolt?

    I just found out that this school his going to be taken over, or converted to magnet or charter?
    What are the bad teachers hidding at this school ? Why did the Principal suddenly did a 90o turn against Ms. Beckles, was she given an order by higher ups, your job or ms. beckles?funny, funny.

    Yohoooo board of Education!!!!!!superintendent Cortines where are you? some bad teachers are trying to dismantle the Parent Policy and Engagement stratergy......

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  28. For the love of clarity, could we all adopt a screename and try to write in full sentences? Trying to pick through the comments here is enough to make anyone's head hurt.

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  29. who mentioned race? not in my post. does race come into play here. if you were a green venutian(or for that matter white) who has tried to pull what is going on here you would get the same reaction.i apologize for spelling mistakes but you notice i speak english and not text speak.stop wallowing in the race abyss and take accoutability for your actions.

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  30. Wow, here we go again, u may not have writing the word N or R, but u surely, in your post, pictures and words, describes u as a racist.....

    I am quite sure if it was a white venutian....how do you know that venutians are green? (sorry no disrespect for the people of or on venus), look old chap, have you looked at your past financial dealings?
    The IRS will soon be contacting you....your trail is smorky, you averted to this bs, cause our investigaation on your trail shows that you r one of the jilted lov...you promised her that you would not rest until her life was destroyed, you are a sicko...perverted mind...But you know this is not about your PAST Perversion, sex harrasment, its about a courageous lady asking the status quo questions that needs to be answered, you are only the vehicle that those toes that are being, ouch!!!use to sidetrack the real issue here....
    education of our children, by who, where, when and how !!!! You cant c it, your'e blinsided...
    btw, learn to txs, its the future...oh I forgot, you r part of the status q, fk 2tor, hope u r not tchng our kids....mmmm..?????

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  31. Would it be awfully inconvenient if the loonies, crackheads and texters went and played somewhere else? If you email me your addresses, I'll arrange for a stack of paper and some crayons to be sent round.

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  32. Tyrese(Parent Of Rosewood)February 11, 2010 6:41 PM

    This back and forth non sense is sad. Is this what we are teach our kids, to make personal attacks on others character.The worst part is these are adults throwing stones but everyone's anonymous.If this is about your kids stand behind your decisions. This is not even about "Yo" anymore now it's just personal attacks on race, parenting and grammar. GROW UP PARENTS!

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  33. Hello,
    I am from Hackney and attended Yolande's Classes (Global Graduates)a few years ago. I was regarded as one of 'Yolande's favourites' and went to America with a few other students also.
    To be honest I am very disappointed in this woman. I was expected to go to Trinidad & Tobago..went to all the preparation talks..just to find out that she took my parents' hard earned money. She has no shame because she never even contacted any of the families due to their untamed and immense anger. Eventually the Hackney Learning Trust repaid us. She made us contact all these trust funds to get sponsors, under the guise that we were going to make a film about black history in Trinidad. I was closer with her children too. I am so angry with this woman and her classes were a complete waste of time...if nobody believes me I will surely reveal my name...the headteacher of my school had so much trust in her and even said a speech at that rubbish graduation praising her...everybody in hackney was on her side...but yet she just affirmed the stereotype that she was constantly preaching against...and I am a black young woman myself. Without her help I managed to get my A*s and As and am in on of the top state sixth forms in London...Somebody needs to arrest her.

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  34. Please DO NOT believe the lies...because if you do she will do it to you also...I was one of the victims from Hackney...I should know.

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  35. Anonymous who posted at 11:06 AM - I have another victim in London who would really like to talk to you in confidence. Would you send your email address privately to me at beckleswatch@mail.com and I'll put you both in touch with eachother.

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  36. Yeah :) that would be good :) I probably know the person if they are from Hackney...I'll definitely contact you :)

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  37. Let's just say her initials are saucy, but she doesn't want to be named on here.

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  38. Saucy? looooooool Oh goodness.. :) I have just emailed you :)I don't want to be named either because...I don't need the hassle..i just wanted to share my experience of her nonsense on here

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  39. I've emailed you privately with contact details.

    ReplyDelete
  40. she has been going to the greater echo park elysian neighborhood council meetings
    http://www.gepenc.org/openbd/gepnc/index.cfm?ModuleId=2&StaffId=592

    ReplyDelete
  41. I am owed £8000.00 by this person, if anyone knows where I can find her please let me know

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  42. Isn't there a class action suit we can start against her? It can be combined United States and International...

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  43. This is so weird. I met Ms. Beckles about a year ago when our sons were in a video games study group together in Glendale. We chatted and she bragged about her Hollywood High daughter getting an early acceptance to Harvard and her son was going to fancy LA prep school, maybe Harvard-Westlake. She didn't have a car so I dropped her off at a Hollywood shopping center. I had no idea how shady she is.

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    Replies
    1. Hi my name is Cath. I went to school with Yolande and so have known her since she was about 5 or 6 years old. The thing I recall about her is that she was never particularly talented in the areas that she would have wished to be talented in, but from a very young age she had real charisma and had a talent for winning people round. Everybody absolutely adored this sweet child: teachers and pupils alike. I do recall that as she got a bit older she got more bigheaded and became a bit of a showoff. She became a bit more arrogant. She was attracted to quite "showy" men who had a propensity towards violence (it could be that the allegations of assault against men were in self defence) When she left school at around 18(?) she went into management and by all accounts did superbly well because her job was about managing people and that is her skill. She made rapid progress and was promoted very quickly. She was on a fast track for management of supermarket, but she obviously felt that she deserved better than this. I do not recognise the criminal that she seems to have matured into and can only conjecture that her grasp has exceeded her reach. As I said her only gift (and it's a great one if put to proper use) is her talent for winning people over. I am going to say something very controversial now: I feel that we live in quite a racist society and from my observation it's difficult for truly gifted black people to get on. I have witnessed too many occasions where people who are obviously not up to the task con their way into positions that, if people took the trouble to look, could have been filled by more able (and probably less showy) individuals. It's as if people want black people who can entertain them or something and then they're happy to say that they have fulfilled their quota of ethnic minorities. However I do feel it's a shame that Yolande's life has panned out this way because we all came from quite a rough background and our parents had a difficult struggle to elevate us all. I hope that she'll face up to these problems and then start again with a clean slate and make better use of her gifts.

      Delete
    2. Hey there, thank you for the insight. I had came in contact with Ms. Beckles when I was in high school (about 2003-2004) as one of her Global Graduates mentees. She was indeed a charismatic women who encouraged us to work hard and aim high, and I have to say, I did benefit from her workshops on confidence building and how to apply to university. I did question some of the tasks she set for us however, one of them was that we had to read a book a week and then write a review on it. We were in the middle of GCSEs exams, so this was quite unnecessary and very disruptive to our studies. She also claimed that she would read *every single one* of the reviews, which I'm pretty certain she didn't. Nevertheless, I'm sorry to hear that about her subsequent exploits, as it was not my impression of her when I was young.

      Delete
  44. I just met this woman. She seemed very nice at first but my bullshit meter was going off. Nothing made much sense. She lives in the Mid Wilshire area of LA and her 'partner' has a hairdressing salon on La Brea and Wilshire. She gave me her card but I see now that its a PO box, not a real address.

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  45. Miss Beckels is really messy, My question is , how could she continue to get hired for jobs? like right now she is "personal Assistant " to a board member of pasadena school district here in California . Does anyone do the background check? I learned that she is not a permanent resident of USA.

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