Minnijean Brown-Trickey is one of the original members of the Little Rock Nine, the teenagers who integrated Central High School after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling. She shares her Brief But Spectacular take on walking like you belong.
Amna Nawaz:
On this Martin Luther King day, we turn for some wisdom to Minnijean Brown-Trickey, one of the original members of the Little Rock Nine, the teenagers who integrated Central High School after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling.
Tonight, she shares her Brief But Spectacular take on her hope for the next generation.
Minnijean Brown-Trickey, Little Rock Nine Member:
When I look at pictures at Central, I see me smiling. That was also a strategy.
The nature of racism, hatred, all those things is to dim your smile, dim your beauty, dim every aspect of you. And, of course, I’m not going to let him do it to me.
(Singing)
Minnijean Brown-Trickey:
Little Rock Nine.
Ashley Gray, World History Teacher:
In the fall of 1957, Minnijean Brown-Trickey took her rightful place in what had previously been a whites-only school, and she helped set America on a path towards desegregation in public schools.
Please rise and give a very warm and loving welcome to Ms. Minnijean Brown-Trickey.
(Applause)
Minnijean Brown-Trickey:
Honestly, in a million years, I could not have anticipated what it was going to be like. I actually rely on the photos, the people screaming hatred behind us and the soldiers not letting us go in, also the horror of what people were screaming and saying.
I was so scared. They were saying: “Hang them.” They were saying: “Kill them.” I saw them, and I said to myself, I will never behave like that for any reason toward anyone as long as I live.
I was a kid who was told that our enemy was the Soviets, and we were hiding under the desks, and I was doing all the anthems and singing all the songs. And then, on that day, I was really disappointed, and I just lost so much of my beliefs.
Ashley Gray:
Charlie H. wanted to know what gave you the courage to walk the halls every day.
Minnijean Brown-Trickey:
There were 20 nice kids who would either speak to us or smile at us. There were about 300 really mean kids, but then that meant there were 1,700 silent witnesses who stood by and said nothing.
So if you’re walking through terror, if somebody smiles with a genuine smile, you’re feeling, oh, there’s hope. There’s hope.
What makes me interested in interacting with young people is because I know who I was, and I value that in young people. I just want them to know that they are capable of so much, and that they don’t have to tolerate things the way they are.
We have kids who have families who are being picked up and brutalized by ICE. I’m not sure if it was like that for me. So my so-called courage is small compared to what they have to come up with in their everyday lives, and I want them to feel up to the challenge.
Ashley Gray:
We have heard that you were especially targeted of all the nine, so I was wondering if you could expound on perhaps why.
Minnijean Brown-Trickey:
Sociologists did interviews with white women about their experience at Central, and they said: We hated that Minnijean so much. She walked the halls of Central like she belonged there. This is what people said.
Excuse me, wherever you walk, you walk like you belong there, OK? That is my challenge to you, OK? Walk like you belong, because you do.
(Applause)
Minnijean Brown-Trickey:
My name is Minnijean Brown-Trickey, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on walking like you belong.
Amna Nawaz:
As always, you can watch more Brief But Spectacular videos online at PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.
