Warriors Don't Cry

An innocent teenager.  An unexpected hero.

These are the words that describe Melba Pattillo Beals.  Melba is a member of the Little Rock Nine, which was a group of nine Black students who were the first to integrate Central High, in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957.  The group of nine Black students faced mobs, daily hostility and persecution.  President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent for the 101st Airborne Division to protect the students.  Melba describes a White student throwing acid in her eyes that almost blinded her.  At age 17 Melba began to write for major newspapers and magazines.  She graduated from San Francisco State University with her bachelor's degree.  Melba later received her master's degree in journalism from Columbian University.  In May 2009, Melba received her Doctoral degree in Education, she now teaches journalism at Dominican University of California.

Melba's book Warrior's Don't Cry was written from the diaries she kept while attending Central High.  Her follow-up book was titled White is a State of Mind.  In 1999, Melba and the other students of Little Rock Nine were awarded the most highest civilian award, Congressional Gold Medal by President Clinton.  Earnest Green from Little Rock Nine, was the first Black student to graduate from Central State in 1958.  Earnest later graduated with a bachelor and master's degree of the Arts.  Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the attendees of Earnest's graduation.  His career span has been significant throughout the years including being the Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs under President Jimmy Carter.

                       

Here is a picture of the Little Rock Nine being escorted by the 101st Airborne Division.  The nine students were Earnest Green, Elizabeth Echford, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Thelma Mothershed, and Melba Pattillo Beals.