Day 10 -- Central High School, Little Rock

Yesterday was the final day of our trip (sorry I didn't get this posted last night, but my family took priority) and also one of our most powerful days.

We arrived at Central High School well before our 9:00 tour and our 10:00 appointment with Minnijean Brown and were met with a wonderful surprise. Another member of the Little Rock Nine walked in. So, before our tour we were able to spend a few moments talking with Terrance Roberts as well. In fact, after our tour, Minnijean suggested we join the group Terrance was leading at the memorial statues outside the State Capital building. It was a joy to be able to interact with both of them.

We then settled into a conference room where Minnnijean Brown gave us about two hours of her time. Our conversation covered a wide range of her experience from how she became one of the nine to how her personality shaped her experience to her family background that prepared her to her experience throughout the year at Central High School to encounters she has had in the 56 years following to what lessons she would have us learn still today to how this experience has shaped her spiritually. It was an honor and a privilege to talk with this passionate woman.

A common sorrow around our conversations at Little Rock was how few people today pay attention to the significant events that happened here in 1957. The ugliness of Central High School in 1957 revealed to the world the evil entrenched in the south and the complacency regarding it in the north -- much of it done in the name of Christianity. One quote I read from one of the nine was a sobering statement: "Some of the angels in chapel were the devils in the hallway." Ouch! Of the 1800 students at the school 100 of them actively abused the nine, 20 of them befriended the nine and 1680 of them were silent witnesses. I wonder how this ugly moment in our nation's history would have been different if the silent witnesses together would have risen up for what is right. Sometimes it is our silence that condemns us.

It was great to get home again. It was a wonderful ten days of learning and absorbing. Thank you again for your prayers! Now I get down to tackling my reading list (which just seems to keep growing!) and reconnecting with home and family. I'm not exactly sure how I'll maintain this blog. I'm thinking I will probably share some insights as I read and then reflect on each book as I finish it. We will see how that goes.