Melba Patillo Beals on the Crucible of Her Youth

“But, because we dared to challenge the Southern tradition of segregation, this school became, instead, a furnace that consumed our youth and forged us into reluctant warriors.”

Melba Patillo Beals, on the Desegregation of Little Rock Schools, Warriors Don’t Cry(1994)

Excerpted from: Howe, Randy, ed. The Quotable Teacher. Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press, 2003