When fourteen-year-old Carlotta Walls walked up the stairs of
Little Rock Central High School on September 25, 1957, she and
eight other black students only wanted to make it to class. But the
journey of the "Little Rock Nine," as they came to be known, would
lead the nation on an even longer and much more turbulent path, one
that would challenge prevailing attitudes, break down barriers, and
forever change the landscape of America.
Descended from a line of proud black landowners and businessmen,
Carlotta was raised to believe that education was the key to
success. She embraced learning and excelled in her studies at the
black schools she attended throughout the 1950s. With Brown v.
Board of Education erasing the color divide in classrooms across
the country, the teenager volunteered to be among the first black
students-of whom she was the youngest-to integrate nearby Central
High School, considered one of the nation's best academic
institutions.
But for Carlotta and her eight comrades, simply getting through the
door was the first of many trials. Angry mobs of white students and
their parents hurled taunts, insults, and threats. Arkansas's
governor used the National Guard to bar the black students from
entering the school. Finally, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was
forced to send in the 101st Airborne to establish order and escort
the Nine into the building. That was just the start of a
heartbreaking three-year journey for Carlotta, who would see her
home bombed, a crime for which her own father was a suspect and for
which a friend of Carlotta's was ultimately jailed-albeit wrongly,
in Carlotta's eyes. But she persevered to the victorious end: her
graduation from Central.
Breaking her silence at last and sharing her story for the first
time, Carlotta Walls has written an inspiring, thoroughly
engrossing memoir that is not only a testament to the power of one
to make a difference but also of the sacrifices made by families
and communities that found themselves a part of history.
Complete with compelling photographs of the time, A Mighty Long Way
shines a light on this watershed moment in civil rights history and
shows that determination, fortitude, and the ability to change the
world are not exclusive to a few special people but are inherent
within us all.
"From the Hardcover edition."
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