A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School

“My family may have seemed unlikely candidates for involvement in a movement that would spark nationwide change. But then again, that is the point of this book: to show that determination, fortitude, and the ability to move the world aren’t reserved for the ‘special’ people.”

LaNier’s purpose is to show that anyone can enact change no matter who they are or where they come from. She draws inspiration from figures she can relate to, who made change in ways she can recognize. One of her heroes is Rosa Parks, whose refusal to go to the back of a bus is relatable to LaNier’s everyday life in the South.

“Whenever the Dodgers played in St. Louis, six or seven of us—Mother, Daddy, Grandpa Cullins, and various other relatives—piled into the car for the big game. Big Daddy was usually working. We most often left late at night and travelled until morning without stopping because hotels and restaurants throughout the South didn’t admit black customers. Daddy meticulously mapped out the eight-hour trip so that we could stop along the way at relatives’ homes for bathroom breaks and rest. If we slept there, the children who liked in the home gave up their beds to the adults and joined the rest of us on blankets spread across the floor. Likewise, our home in Little Rock often felt like Grand Central Station because we had so many relatives stopping though on their cross-country road trips.”

LaNier describes the extra obstacles faced by her family when doing something seemingly ordinary, like travelling to a baseball game. Because their family is Black, Daddy must specially plan each trip to avoid segregated places and keep his family safe. This is an example of Collective Care in Black Communities: Even distant family members open their homes to give travelling families safe places to sleep.

“Many of Dunbar’s teachers had advanced degrees and often spent their summers taking classes at northern universities. What they lacked in resources, they made up for in creativity and dedication. Educating black children was more than a job back then; it was a mission—one that for most of the teachers was rooted in the teachings of historically black colleges and universities created in the wake of the Civil War to educate freed slaves.”

Dunbar’s teachers go above and beyond for their students. Enslaved people were often not allowed to read or write and were not given formal education. The teachers at Dunbar are driven by lineages of Black educators at historically Black colleges and universities who provided education as a form of empowerment.