...“I got up every morning, polished my saddle shoes, and went off to war.”-Melba Pattillo. Those are words straight from the mouth of Little Rock High School integrating “lab rats.” She was the kind of warrior that took mental bullets, and dodged them. Almost every white person in that school verbally and even physically abused them. All she wanted was to learn and help her people mix in and create equality with everyone else. When you feel like school is similar to going to war, you must stay within your own thoughts and, like Melba did, keep on fighting for what you believe in. In this case, it is integration at one of the largest schools in the nation- Little Rock High. Melba was not the type to shoot a gun, but she had some weapons that literally kept her alive. The saying, “kill them with kindness,” is exactly her game plan. She is very good at hiding her true emotions from all of the...
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...stay alive for the rest of the school day? That’s exactly how the Little Rock Nine felt every day they attended Central High School. When they got the news that they were chosen to go to one of the best high schools in the country, they thought they’d finally done it. Finally gotten the chance to prove that they were just as worthy as whites to get a good education. But all of their optimism disappeared the moment they saw the mob gathered in front of the school. They knew then that nothing would be as they expected. All of their thoughts were confirmed once they stepped inside. The...
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...hardships that later shaped her into an influential African American. Bates’ most known endeavor was working to desegregate schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. Daisy Bates and her family faced numerous threats along the way to desegregation. Daisy Bates inspired others as an influential African American through her progress as a Civil Rights activist, the risks and struggles she endured during her work, and her impact on society. Daisy Bates encountered a harsh childhood, that directly shaped her as the American Civil Rights activist she then became. “Daisy Bates” was born Daisy Lee Gatson on November 10, 1914 in Huttig, Arkansas (“Bates, Daisy” 1). Beginning from a rough start, when Bates was a young girl, her mother was raped and murdered by three white men (“The Death” 46). Daisy Bates was then raised by friends of her parents, after her father fled (“Documenting the American” 1). From this incident on, Bates was furious for a majority of her life. Adding to her hatred, Daisy Bates herself attended a segregated public school (“Bates, Daisy” 1). Bates was able to experience the...
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...“Being the bigger person doesn’t always mean fighting back” (Unknown). The Little Rock Nine had to be the bigger people in comparison to their oppressors. This took personal growth. In Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals, young Melba grows stronger as a person and as a Christian as she integrates Central High School. Melba does not have a choice. Beginning as soon as she decided to integrate, Melba had to strengthen and grow as a person. For instance, Melba thinks, “I wanted to turn and run away, but I thought about what Danny had said: ‘Warriors survive’” (163). If Melba had not strengthened, she would have ended the fight by giving up or dying. Danny, Melba’s ‘bodyguard’ once told her that “it takes a warrior to fight a battle and...
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...This memoir is based off of the book Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Patillo Beals. Melba was one of the first black students to go to an all-white school in 1957. She had to deal with people pushing her and threatening her everyday. She got through it by using inner strength she got from her faith in God, her mother and grandmother, and from people she met in school and outside of school. The students of the school had tried to get her to leave multiple times, but she persevered and overcame her struggle. I also have a lot of challenges in my life. One of my most faced challenges is keeping up in school. I need to keep my grades up to be successful in life. The way I keep strength is by thinking of consequences if I were to give up,...
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...Segregation Debated and Changed: Little Rock Nine I will never forget September 4, 1957. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. I was making breakfast as my daughter, Elizabeth, was ironing her new dress, a beautiful white shirtwaist with a deep gingham hem, which we had made for her. My son was watching television, as he did every morning, while he waited for his breakfast. My husband was sitting next to my son on the couch in the living room, reading the morning newspaper. It seemed to be a perfectly normal day until the news came on. “A large crowd of angry white people has gathered outside of Little Rock’s Central High School. Everyone here is wondering whether the nine Negro students will show up today,” said the TV announcer. “Turn that off!” I exclaimed. Immediately my husband got up from the couch and came to my side. He held me in his arms and quietly said, “My nerves are shattered too. The news reports were bad enough last night, but we must not let the ignorance get to us. Elizabeth will be fine once she gets to school and joins the other children.” My husband makes me feel so safe and calm I thought to myself. He had a special talent, you could say. My heart sang as I heard Elizabeth announce, “See you later, Mom. Good-bye, Pop. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine.” I interjected, “Before you go, let’s all pray.” “Do we have to? I am going to be late!” “Take my hand, sweetheart. It will only take a second to ask for God’s...
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...Warriors Don’t Cry Warriors Don’t Cry is a true first-hand account of what Melba Pattillo Beals experienced in her junior year at Little Rock Central High School. Her story takes place in 1957, being one of the Little Rock nine to be integrated into the public school system. Initially there were seventeen students that were going to integrate but due to violence and threats the number was decreased to nine. Throughout the book, Melba tells us what life is like being one of the nine. She had to bear telephone threats, physical abuse, and huge violent mobs, among many other things. Her high school experience was unlike anything anyone could imagine. Melba Beals overcame many obstacles both mental and physical, but is truly a warrior and a hero. At a time of weakness, Melba is reminded by her Grandmother that she is one of God’s warriors. She was upset that she wasn’t going to be able to go to the Community Center that her crush was going to be at. Her Grandmother India knew the risk of her going to the Community Center and only wanted what was best for her safety. She ran to her room and began to weep because what she was going through wasn’t fair to her. She was missing out on all the things a young high school girl loves doing. Her Grandmother told her, “God’s warriors don’t cry, ‘cause they trust that he’s always by their side” (Beals, 57). Melba being told as a young girl that she wasn’t allowed to cry because it displayed her weakness demonstrations the amount of thick...
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...lines in the battle for civil rights These nine students were threatened by mobs out to hurt them, the Governor of the State of Arkansas prevented from entering the school on the very first day of the new school year. But with the support of their parents and others in the community, the Little Rock Crisis was resolved by the intervention of the then President of the United States, Eisenhower and the students were allowed to continue attending the school.They endured massive amounts of pain mainly trying to get an education It all started with the judgement passed by the U.S. Supreme Court in May 1954 in a case known as the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. According to the judgement, all segregated schools were unconstitutional and it called for desegregating schools throughout the U.S. This judgement gave an impetus to the parents belonging to the NAACP to try and admit their children into what were segregated white-only schools. The Little Rock School Board agreed to follow the rules and decided to desegregate the high school. This was how the nine students got admitted into the school. They had scored exceptional grades in their previous school. However, the trouble erupted on the first day of the new school year, but was soon put down and the students were able to graduate. . The Little Rock Nine stand for young people who take responsibility for their own education and are bold enough to step forward and seize the available opportunities without fear...
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...The Brown v. Board of Education decision is handed down by the Supreme Court saying that “separate but equal” school system are unconstitutional. On this day, nine African-American pupils had volunteered to participate in the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The whites dislike the thought of their children going to the same school as blacks. The day when the nine black students arrive for the integration to begin is on September 25. The integration will start in 4 months or so to see if the school will become desegregated. Orval Faubus, the governor of Arkansas, is attempting to block the segregation of Little Rock Central High School. Faubus has called for the National Guard to block the admission of the nine black students to Central High. The nine students arrive but are turned away by the National Guard when they had first arrived to Central High. They have been receiving really harsh threats and had been bullied and treated like they were nothings. Melba Beals is one of the eight victims that has been through a lot with guys choking her, flaming paper being thrown on her, and having acid thrown in her...
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...the nine African-American high school students faced an angry mob of over 1,000 White Americans protesting integration in front of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Thesis: I am here to inform you about the Integration at Central High School which the President Eisenhower had to send in 1,000 army paratroopers and Governor Orval Faubus Body I. Main Point: President Eisenhower had to send in 1,000 army paratroopers for the students to be able to walk into the school. 1. Under escort from the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, nine black students enter all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. 2. After a tense standoff, President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent 1,000 army paratroopers to Little Rock to enforce the court order. 3. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent in federal troops to ensure that the black students made it to school. II. Main Point: Governor Orval Faubus had surrounded the school with National Guard troops to prevent its federal court-ordered racial integration. 1. On September 2, Governor Orval Faubus—a staunch segregationist—called out the Arkansas National Guard to surround Central High School and prevent integration, ostensibly to prevent the bloodshed he claimed desegregation would cause. 2. Governor Faubus, acting under the authority of a state law that granted him the power to close schools, ordered the high schools in Little Rock closed for the school year...
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...could feel a warm Southern breeze surrounding me while I was walking towards the Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas, the 9th of September. I quickly discovered that I would not the only one there to witness the following event. Hundreds of others were already standing outside the school anticipating the arrival of the nine black students who had been registered for admission to the school. Central High School had been the centre of attention in the media all over the United States, all because of the commotion prior to the integration of the school. It all started the 17th of May 1954 when the United States Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in the schools was unconstitutional. The Little Rock School Board adopted a plan that a gradual integration would start in September 1957. But on the night of September 2, the night before school was scheduled to start, Governor Orval Faubus called out the Arkansas National Guard along with the State Police to surround the campus of the Central High School to refuse the nine black students to enter. And because of this, nearly 300 people were now surrounding the school, speculating whether or not “the Little Rock Nine”, as they were called, would even show up. But they did not have to speculate for long. The first student to arrive was a young girl named Elisabeth Eckford. The minute she started walking towards the school, the crowd began shouting for someone to lynch her. Still she walked slowly but...
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...Integrate Little Rock’s Central High author · Melba Patillo Beals type of work · Memoir genre · Nonfiction, memoir, biography language · English time and place written · 1990s, The United States date of first publication · 1994 publisher · Pocket Books narrator · Melba Patillo Beals point of view · The book is the story of Melba’s teenage life, and the adult writer, Melba, is both the narrator and the protagonist. Melba tells the story from the first person point of view. tone · Restrained anger tense · Past setting (time) · Early 1950s setting (place) · Little Rock, Arkansas protagonist · Melba Patillo major conflicts · The attempt made by Melba and eight other African-American students to integrate into Little Rock High School rising action · The Supreme Court rules in Brown v. the Board of Education that separate schools are not equal; Melba volunteers to go to the all-white Central High School; Melba and eight other African-American students enter Central High. climax · Ernie becomes the first black student to graduate from Central High School. falling action · Unable to return for a second year at Central High School, Melba moves to California and lives with a white family; she becomes a journalist and reports on injustices around the world. themes · The shifting of power through resistance, the prominence of race relations motifs · Self-reliance, the loss of innocence symbols · Central High School, Melba’s Easter...
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...Success is a choice Perseverance could be described as one's will to carry on towards success. People have to make the decision to persevere on their own. This idea can be seen in many pieces of text including the following poems.“Invictus” by William Ernest Henley and “Mother to son” by Langston Hughes both share the lesson that success is one's own decision. Through “Invictus,” William Ernest Henley portrays that success lies in one's own decisions. He does this through the use of diction the theme is expressed by using words that show that he is very brave and has an unbreakable will to succeed. This is shown in the quote, “And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid.” (Henley 11-12). This device is used when Henley uses strong words like Unafraid, unbowed and unconquerable this device expresses the theme by showing how persistent the author/ speaker is. Another device that William Ernest Henley uses is metaphors because through the use of metaphors Henley can develop the theme. This is shown by the quote, “Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms but the horror of the shade” (Henley 9-10). This literary device is used by Henley to emphasize the obstacles he has overcome and the amount of courage and perseverance he has. Similarly, in “Mother to son,” Langston Hughes conveys that success lies in people's own decisions. The use of an extended metaphor expresses the theme because by comparing life to a staircase the author says that people have to keep...
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...Then Elizabeth Eckford said, “ she spat on me.” Wow! What kind of respect is that? The little rock nine had to deal with segregation because they were colored and tried to go to Central High in Arkansas. The nine African American teens had to deal with segregation because the National Guard blocked their school so they couldn’t get in, then they had to have an armed escort just to get in, after that they had to deal with all the other kids taunting them because of their color. They all ended up getting into the Little Rock Central HIgh School. During the National Guard blockage, the governor sent the National Guard to the Little Rock Central High School because he didn’t want them in the school because they were colored. Several councils threatened to protest at Central High and block the black students from entering Central High school. Elizabeth Eckford said, ¨They moved closer and closer. ... Somebody started yelling. ... I tried to see a friendly face somewhere in the crowd—someone who maybe could help. I looked into the face of an old woman and it seemed a kind face, but when I looked at her again, she spat on me.¨ The National Guard and the Governor did not like the idea of the 9 students to go into Central High. The Governor got the National Guard to surround the school because he didn’t want the...
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...effected. In the devastating memoir Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals, Melba (the main character) is chosen as one of the nine colored teenagers to integrate Little Rock, Arkansas Central High School. She is taunted, threatened, attacked, and injured but through it all, she was a warrior, stayed strong, and stood by her side. However, traditions such as making new easter clothing, giving during Thanksgiving, and the fact that her kind isn’t born expecting segregation impact her personality and decisions. First, every year, Melba’s family has the tradition of choosing fabric from Grandma India’s trunk to make their unique Easter clothing, as her trunk is filled with treasures. The experience of constructing a dress for Easter, this year even a grown up dress that symbolizes Melba’s difficult passage from a high-school girl to an adult warrior for justice and is a reward for her work, helps her to...
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