Posted by student JONATHAN DUNKLEY – About 55 members of the Phillips County community came out to a Black History Month program featuring Little Rock Nine member Minnijean Brown Trickey on Tuesday at the Boys Girls Adults Community Development Center (BGACDC) in Marvell, Ark. The event was a collective effort hosted by BGACDC, the Bethlehem District Baptist Association of Marvell and Clinton School students Spirit Trickey-Rowan and myself. Spirit and I have been working with BGACDC on our Practicum (group) project.
Minnijean Brown Trickey is one of nine African-American students to integrate Little Rock Central High School in 1957 – the nine students later became known as the Little Rock Nine. Brown-Trickey is also Spirit’s mother. In the program titled “From Dreams to Reality: How Far We’ve Come,” Brown-Trickey said that as a young girl who grew up during segregation, she never could have imagined that she would have lived to see the day when our country would elect an African-American as president. She expressed pride and enthusiasm about the election of President Obama, but she cautioned the group in attendance not to become complacent and ignore civil rights violations that still exist today.
Brown-Trickey also addressed the educational inequalities that continue to plague our nation.
“We need to rethink education and begin teaching our children at birth,” she said. “Children are our most important resource, so education should be an urgent concern for the entire society.”
Many audience members shared their own personal stories of integration, as well as their own experiences as educators in the Mississippi River Delta during the Q&A session that followed Brown-Trickey’s speech. Spirit and I are most appreciative to everyone that was able to attend and to the people at the Clinton School, BGACDC, the Bethlehem District and especially Minnijean Brown-Trickey for making this an unforgettable Black History Month program for the residents of Marvell.