The Little Rock Nine
My senior got the privilege tonight of hearing Elizabeth Eckford speak at his high school about her experience as one of the first black students to ever attend a white public school. I'm glad he got to see her in person, to hear her talk, to put a face to immense, incredible courage. Looking at some clips and reading some articles, revisiting that time, it's hard to believe that human beings can sometimes be so ignorant and blind and full of hate. It'd be nice to be able to say that those are bygone days, that it's all a thing of the past, distant history. We've made strides for sure, but we're not there yet.
posted by jay are at 11:46 PM
11 Comments:
Wow, how neat that he got to hear her speak. That is something to tell his kids about! Can you imagine the courage of those nine students? I am always amazed when I read about it. So true that we aren't there yet....I'm glad we've made some strides.
9:00 AM, November 20, 2007
I remember this photo in photography class. They used this as a great example of photojournalism.
The image really does tells the story
I just looked up a little more information on this photo and it is described as one of the top 100 photographs of the 20th century. I also came across some really interesting information about the girl that is yelling in the background. Her name is Hazel Massery. You can read about her here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazel_Massery
It’s hard to believe this happened in my lifetime. Thanks for posting this.
4:51 PM, November 20, 2007
thanks for the info, blogball.... very powerful photograph for sure.
4:59 PM, November 20, 2007
Well, I'm glad old Hazel changed her mind. I read the link blogball sent. Glsd people can change their minds!
8:57 PM, November 20, 2007
I meant I'm 'glad' people can change their minds. (not glsd) eek.
8:59 PM, November 20, 2007
jay aitch, i thot maybe "glsd" meant you were glazed or something, which was confusing because i knew you were not a ham or a donut. because donuts can't type, for one thing. but anyway, i'm glad too.
11:55 AM, November 21, 2007
Good thing you aren't judging by fat content; good thing for the typing clue.
4:50 PM, November 21, 2007
P.S. Bryan....why aren't you down here with the rest of the clan for T-day????????? Looking forward to meeting Roxy's hubby.
5:06 PM, November 21, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving, Jay Are.
May the joys and blessings of Thanksgiving be with you and yours.
6:30 AM, November 22, 2007
I've always had mixed feelings for the yelling and obnoxious behaviour behind that strong young woman. On the one hand, that age group tends to follow what they know instead of questioning stereotypes, etc. (esp in the '50s and early 60s)so it can almost be excused as a thinking-like-their-parents thing... on the other hand, the courageous kids who went to school and in doing so rejected the thoughts/culture of the times were peers with those who didn't... I'm glad she came around.
How would you have advised your kids if they had been one of the Little Rock 9? Would you have wanted to protect them from harm and hurt as individuals or would you have wanted them to be brave and do the right thing by future generations? Just curious... I think that's a hard question, but I have much younger kids...
1:55 PM, November 26, 2007
it IS a hard question, and I'd like to think that I would've encouraged them to make a stand and to stand tall, but likely I'd have most wanted to protect them and wouldn't have encouraged them to put themselves in harm's way---even for an important and great cause.
1:59 PM, November 26, 2007
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