Tribute to the Little Rock Nine
Little Rock Nine
When I think of black history,
You come to mind.
In turbulent times
You stood strong
Bravely, fighting to right
our nation's wrong.
You did what you had to do.
Nothing could stop you.
Your courage, your strength,
Your determination
Changed a nation
You climbed high the mountain of
Segregation
So that people of every station
could have a right to a decent education.
Through the name calling and spitting,
You choose to hang tough.
You could have said enough,
But you endured for us.
You suffered humiliation,
anger and wrath,
Everyday you went to class.
When threatened with attack
You didn't turn back.
You were so young,
But you stood,
Bravely as you could
How can we not be proud?
When through the angry, screaming crowd,
You pressed, heads held high,
You walked on by,
Sailed the winds of adversity,
Crossed the angry sea
For you and for me.
You endured
Resting secure
That your labors would not be in vain.
You bore the anger, you bore the pain.
Now it is up to us to walk through the doors
You opened wide
With the same determination and pride
You blasted the doors of segregation,
Paved a way to the road of education,
Gave us an opportunity to matriculate
on an equal playing field
That our destiny could no longer be sealed
by the chains of inequality.
When I think of black history
Little Rock Nine,
You will always come to mind.
Patricia Newman-Harris
Open letter to our children
I'm writing this letter to you in the hopes that you will not only open your ears, you will finally hear.
I wish that I could wake those who slumber and sleep on the bed of complacency and apathy. Would that I could make you see that you don't have to be content with the ordinary. I know you get tired of hearing the same old same, but I want you to understand that you can be whatever you want to be. You are not confined by person or place, color or race. Oh, that you would finally hear what the universe is so loudly speaking. You are worthy. You can succeed in any endeavor if you try. You are not defined by where you live or the color of your skin. These are messages that some don't want you to hear, but if you listen, you can hear them loud and clear. I know you can succeed, but you have to believe you can. Failure is not a fact, nor is it is an option to be considered. You have the same courage, determination, and power as the Little Rock Nine. You don't have the obstacles they had to endure. You just get up, put on your clothes and go to school. There is no one physically standing outside to block your way. Those children endured the worse so that you would have the opportunity to equal education. Granted, all schools are still not equal, but you have to do the best you can with what you are given. You can't blame your parents, the schools, or the teacher. You have to do the best you can do. Inevitably, you are responsible for you. If you feel you are not learning in class, use the internet to learn what you need to learn. You use it for anything else you want to know. It is a powerful tool of education that is available to almost anyone.
In closing, I want you to know that there is a debt you owe, not just to yourself, but to every person who endured injustice, suffered or died for you and for me. They handed you a legacy...opened wide the doors of opportunity. It hurts me when I see you throwing it away without thought or consideration of our history.
Your freedom is a gift that was bought with the blood, sweat and tears of our ancestors. It is not yours to throw away. You have to seize every opportunity, throwing nothing away. Nothing!
In case you haven't noticed, people are quickly gobbling up the crumbs that fall from America's table. They are hungry for the opportunities you so callously throw away. Here, we sit in the land of plenty willingly starving from a lack of knowledge, refusing to go to college, when our forefathers burned for the chance to learn.
I hope you will accept and consider what I have said seriously. Your future is in your hands. Do all you can to stand. When you feel like you can't stand anymore, stand. I know you can. Remember, the race is not given to the swift or the strong, but to the one who is willing to endure to the end. I want to see you win.
That is my sole desire. I just want to see you win!
See link below for information on the story of the Little Rock Nine.