Invisible Child: Dasani’s Homeless Life "Reasons to Dream," Part 5 - The New York Times

Invisible Child: Dasani’s Homeless Life - The New York Times: A mob of spectators presses in, trying to see the tiny girl. Rap stars circle. The cameras roll. The crowd chants her name. “Da-Sa-Neee!”  Her heart is racing. She looks up at the sky and extends her fingers, but cannot reach high enough to grasp the metal bar. A powerful man hoists her up by the waist.

In an instant, she is midair, pulling and twisting acrobatically as the audience gasps at the might of this 12-year-old girl.

“She’s a giantess,” the man had announced to the audience. “She’s tomorrow’s success, I’m telling you right now.”

Dasani blinks, looking out at the smiling faces. She cannot make sense of the serendipity that has brought her here to Harlem, on this sparkling July day, to make her debut as a member of an urban fitness group teamed up with Nike.

But there is her beaming mother, Chanel; her father, Supreme; and all seven siblings. They are cheering and clapping as well.