I was reading this as background research for a graduate school paper, and kept getting sucked in by the story. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone studying the Brown v. Board decision, the Little Rock crisis, or just the Civil Rights movement or the NAACP in the 1950s. She tells the story with an excellent narrative voice and I was constantly left short of breath, thick tears in my throat. I think it made it all the stronger for me that I read it right after I read Virgil Blossom's memoir "It HAS happened here" about the same time in Little Rock history. The distinctly different perspectives between the white Superintendent of Schools and the black state president of the NAACP would make an excellent basis for a unit in middle or high school.

A few years ago I read Warriors Don't Cry, written by one of the Little Rock Nine. I wanted to know more so I shelved this title, written by Daisy Bates, an adult on the front lines during the battle for integration - center stage being Little Rock Arkansas in the late 1950's.

Daisy felt a lot of hatred and bitterness in her growing up years because of what she witnessed and felt in the treatment of her people. Her father had some important council for her at the end of his life, these words became a transformative crossroads for her: "You're filled with hatred. Hate can destroy you, Daisy. Don't hate white people just because they're white. If you hate, make it count for something. Hate the humiliations we are living under in the South. Hate the discrimination that eats away at the soul of every black man and woman. Hate the insults hurled at us by white scum -- and then try to do something about it, or your hate won't spell a thing." (29)

Daisy grew up and made it spell something. She was a prominent leader within the NAACP. She and her husband successfully ran a local newspaper, the Arkansas State Press. For the nine students and their families, navigating the difficulties and unknowns of the tumultuous journey of school desegregation, I'm thinking Daisy was their person. The person they would check in with, their in-between for the lawyers, the school board, law enforcement, sometimes the public. The person they could share their trauma with and also ask, "what should we do now?"

I'm done learning about this, at least for now, also I will never forget it.

Some passages I flagged:

An account of a black WWII veteran in 1946:

"Being home isn't as pleasant as I had thought," said the captain. "For the past four years, while in the Army, I was treated as a man. I was judged and respected on the basis of character and ability, not color. Today I walked into a man's store on Main Street and was greeted with, 'what do you want, boy?' I looked at the clerk, turned and walked out. After leaving the store, I passed a restaurant. Hungry and angry, without thinking, I entered. As I approached a table, I suddenly became aware of a screaming silence prevailing in the room. I stood at the table with my hand on a chair. As I looked around the room, the cold raw hatred that I saw in the eyes of the waitresses and customers stabbed more deadly and with greater pain than the fragments of the shell that injured my leg in Germany. I stood there for a moment, looking at their faces distorted with hate, thinking of the tribute America paid to dead heroes, black and white, and I said, 'Pardon me,' and walked out." My heart went out to this young man, slumped in the chair opposite my desk. His colorful war decorations were pinned on his chest, and silver bars on his shoulders glistened in the overhead light. "I'm leaving the South," he ended resignedly. "There must be some place in America where a Negro can be a man." (44-5)

"Are you sorry," someone asked him, "that the President sent the troops?" "No," said Ernest. "I'm only sorry it had to be that way." (Ernest Green, one of the Central High students) (106)

"Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it." -Judge Learned Hand

Daisy also shares accounts of whites who supported the integration, were tormented, their own friends turned on them, ran them out of business. The community they had sacrificed and worked to build was so tortuous they packed up and left. Eventually many lost everything, even lives taken by their own hands. ....

"All of these white Southerners came face to face with the agonizing fact that the same system they had supported all these years -- the same system that had been used to deny Negroes their rights -- was now being used against them. Those who dared speak up became pariahs. They were fired from their jobs, put out of business, ostracized by their friends, driven from town. And three met with death." (181)

Really admire Daisy Bates for her courageous life and her contribution to civil rights progress in the early part of the movement. Her story as recounted in this book is compelling if a bit precious in parts. An incredible story nonetheless.

A must read

I currently live in Little Rock, a lifelong resident of the state. Somehow this history escaped me. I’m shocked, horrified by everything that took place, the mobs, the bombings, the hate. If there is one thing our latest election has taught me, it is that while we have made some progress, there is still much work to be done.

I appreciate the work of Mrs. Bates and so many others. May we pick up their work for all Americans and immigrants.

Its quite interesting to read this book in 2019. Written in 1962, Daisy Bates describes how things have changed (or not) in the five years since the Integration Crisis of 1957.

I read this years ago and really enjoyed it. Because of an upcoming event at my local library, I got a digital copy of her book and now it's in my hands. What kind of crushed me is her way of watching that man who had a hand in killing her mother. That was compelling. I liked to feel that God put them on the path of each other for a reason. So this man can see what he's caused, and she can face her mother's killer. But finding out about that did something inside her that just turned ugly for her a child. No child should have to hear about such a thing. But it prepared her for what she had to endure later on I feel. Darn good bio. sorry it is out of print but google got it in e-reader form.

This was a fascinating look at a piece of US history I was not as informed about as I thought. It was amazing to be able to read and experience what the children, and the adults around them, actually went through. This was written in 1962, not too many years after the events that she wrote about occurred, so there isn't a lot of time to see the impact of what happened on the United States in regard to race relations. While it may appear there has been a lot of improvement in these areas, it is also sad to realize there is still a lot of work to do.

I really enjoyed this book. It should be required reading in schools.

A powerful book. Mrs. Bates describes her life with honest facts that shed light on the not so subtle reality of Jim Crow. She does not try to manipulate the reader. As a native of Little Rock, I found the book to be historically significant and even though it was written in the 60s, I would recommend it to anyone as a way to better understand the daily steps that we can all take to improve civility for all mankind.

This was an eye-opening book for me. I hope to read more about this subject. I am proud though that my Dad was one of the paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division who were sent to Little Rock to protect Little Rock Nine.

Nice book, but not what I was expecting. I was hoping more details would be given in regards of how she cordinated the integration. Good read and nice to compare her account with Melba Patillo Beal's Warriors Don't Cry account.

Civil Rights activist and nurturer to the brave Little Rock Nine, Daisy Bates stood tall and proud as a beacon for integration. She did not falter, she did not cave in, and she and the Little Rock Nine paved the way for countless children of color to have the same rights to a quality education. This book is inspiring, well-written, and gives you the feeling you are there as Daisy Bates fights on for the just cause integration. A wonderful read on its own and a great selection as she is a woman who changed America and the world by staying strong and not giving in.