Oliver would come to be the most well-known father of the 13 families that volunteered to put their children, literally in the line of fire in 1950. Little seven-year-old Linda Brown held her father’s hand, exchanging each other’s sweat, I imagine and walked the 4 ½ blocks to the all-white Summer Elementary School in Topeka, Kansas. One might wonder what would drive a group of black families to risk not only their lives but more importantly, the lives of their children. There are no complex answers, only simple questions, but each had their own reasons and their children’s futures to think about. Four years later, that walk was permanently shortened from the 20-block trek by foot or on a school bus to Brown’s segregated school. Linda Brown became the face of foreseeable change in America.
Miss Brown had been predictably turned away from Summer Elementary, in the early hours of that tense morning in 1950 and became a part of the catalyst for sweeping reform. Ironically, Mrs. Linda Brown-Thompson died this past Sunday, a day before school would reopen for the week. In a twist of educational fate, the civil disobedience, by the 13 families, was orchestrated by the NAACP with the intention of creating complainants. They hoped the case would go to the Supreme Court and abolish separate but equal laws forever. The educational irony, Reverend Oliver Brown’s name ended up at the top of the list and consequently became the most remembered name, simply because it was at the top of the alphabetized list of plaintiffs; Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. I entered school 6 years after the Supreme Court decision that theoretically opened the doors to equal education. Linda Brown had no idea what she had started but she lived her life finishing it.
Let the Children Speak…
This past Saturday, on the eve of Mrs. Brown-Thompson’s death, the children spoke up again. Little Black and Brown girls, little White and Asian girls spoke volumes about the rights of children to be safe, be educated and be treated equally. By the way, I am not discounting the little boys or their contribution but I wanted to do what Naomi Wadler requested, represent the stories of, “the African American girls whose stories don’t make the front page of every national newspaper.” A few of my white friends said to me, ‘I wish she had not made it a race thing.’ I told them, “she didn’t, America did.” Just as America made a scared little seven-year-old tightly grip her daddy’s hand just to go to school 68 years prior. Those who watched the poised 11-year-old Naomi Wadler stand in the wash of the Capitol steps and deliver her inspiring words knew she held no animosity for those who did not look like her like they had done to Linda Brown. She just wanted to speak for those who no longer could.
As a black man and a black father, I have walked in the firmed footsteps of the thirteen families who were willing to sacrifice the most precious thing they owned, their children and their legacy… Sam Fuentes, Naomi Wadler, Suzanna Barna, Emma González, Edna Chavez, Jaclyn Corin and Yolanda Renee King send you more than thoughts and prayers Linda Brown,... rest well
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