One of Little Rock Nine shares experiences with USN students
by Juanita I.C. Traughber, communications director
Minnijean Brown-Trickey urges students become their own advocates and be "forever learners."
Minnijean Brown-Trickey urges students become their own advocates and be "forever learners."
Civil rights activist Minnijean Brown-Trickey visited Middle School students this week to share her historic experience integrating Central High School in Little Rock in 1957. While speaking to students, parents, and faculty Wednesday, March 15, she urged students to advocate for themselves, be “forever learners,” and try everything to find their niches.
Brown-Trickey also commended fifth graders for their collaborative projects through their civil rights unit in which they learned the rich heritage of Nashville’s African-American neighborhoods through tours led by historian and alumnus David Ewing ’83 and Social Studies Teacher Connie Fink as well as a trip to the Tennessee State Library & Archives.
She also likened her experience to that of Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai, whom the Taliban attempted to murder; yet she became even more outspoken and internationally known before becoming the youngest Nobel Prize Laureate.
“The only difference is that (school integration protesters) hadn't yet decided to kill us,” said Brown-Trickey, adding the verbal and physical assaults she experienced in high school made her stronger and taught her empathy for the people who expressed hatred toward her and the eight other African-American students known as the Little Rock Nine. “They threw away their dignity, and it landed on us. So you better be careful when you protest equality because you could create a Minnijean or Malala.”
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Fax: 615-321-0889
Email: info@usn.org
River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
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University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.