The 34th annual ALANA Student Leadership Conference began on Wednesday night with a keynote address by Minnijean Brown-Trickey.

As a member of the Little Rock Nine, Brown-Trickey made history in 1957 when she and eight other students desegregated public schools in the United States. Their attendance at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas was the first case of African-American students attending public schools after Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court case that ruled segregation in schools was unconstitutional. During the address, Brown-Trickey discussed a variety of issues, from her experience entering Central High School to how young activists can help fight for social justice today.

As one of the Little Rock Nine, Brown-Trickey was faced with severe abuse and hate from fellow students. The Nine were not allowed to attend the school immediately after the ruling of Brown v. Board, as Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus brought in the state’s National Guard to prevent them from doing so. It took interference from U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower for the students to finally be allowed to enter Central High School. Despite being allowed to attend, Brown-Trickey and the fellow students were subject to severe harassment and abuse from the other students at the school. 

“I saw these people who had lost their minds,” Brown-Trickey said. “They were behaving so horribly, and they had lost any kind of decorum … swearing and death threats.”

She spoke about experiences of abuse from students and staff alike, stating that when students would do things such as push her down the stairs, the faculty at Central High School would find a way to blame Brown-Trickey for the incident. 

“Just walking in the school, I used to say to myself, ‘Let’s see what stupid things you think of to do to me today,’” Brown-Trickey said.

Despite constant physical attacks and verbal harassment, Brown-Trickey never shied away from expressing herself or being true to who she was. 

“We were kind of in their faces by being who we were, and not who they thought we should be,” Brown-Trickey said. “They thought we should be grateful and I was almost thinking, ‘You should be grateful that I’m here.’”

Brown-Trickey said these moments were transformative in her life, as she decided that she would never allow herself to respond with violence.

“It takes an awful lot of courage to be nonviolent,” Brown-Trickey said. “It’s kind of cool to be transformed at 16 [years old], because it stuck with me … In a really terrible situation, we have to take something good out of it. I didn’t want to be these people and that I would never be these people.”

Brown-Trickey also spoke about social justice and activism in the current climate. She emphasized the importance of coming together and beating “the American value of social segregation.” 

“We can’t win any of these battles alone,” Brown-Trickey said. “We have to work together, with everybody.”

Brown-Trickey also referenced the militarization of police, stressing that “even though we may think [the police] have weapons for only people of color, they have them for everybody.” In this sense, she also said it is important to remember that, as Americans, we are all on the same side in the fight for justice. 

In addition, she emphasized the importance of being informed in an environment that can make it difficult to discover the truth.

This tied in with another topic: the misrepresentation of history. This included the events of the Little Rock Nine and their representation in American textbooks and classrooms. She specifically referenced the ways in which her own experiences have been misconstrued in educational settings. 

“We’re basically a miseducated society,” Brown-Trickey said.

Part of this is related to the inequity in schools, which she said can prevent kids from reaching their full potential and can even lead them down a dangerous path.

In terms of activism among young people, Brown-Trickey is encouraged by their participation. 

“We’re getting somewhere, if people are thinking about [ways to be active],” Brown-Trickey said. 

She emphasized the importance of young people joining and being active in the fight for social justice, and how encouraging her experiences speaking with kids have been.

“I’ve done this in Northern Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and I’ve done it in England, the United States and Canada … [young people] are curious, they are smart,” Brown-Trickey said. “I really like having conversations with young people and they know one heck of a lot more than we think they do.”

Brown-Trickey also emphasized that the road to social justice is not necessarily an easy one. 

“Nobody is going to give you a break for being an activist,” Brown-Trickey said.

Photo from The Oswegonian File Photos from 2018