This week, at The Sankofa Institute, I’m interviewing a living legend–Carlotta Walls LaNier.
Mrs. LaNier will forever be remembered as one of The Little Rock Nine. She chronicles her painful journey in her powerful memoir, “A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School.”
Sept. 25th 1957 a young Carlotta Walls integrated Little Rock Central H.S. under the presidential protection of 1200 members of the 101st Airborne. Hear that again, it took 1200 men to escort 9 black teens into a school of 2000 white students. The Little Rock Nine went to school under war-like conditions and, sadly, Carlotta became the first integrating student in the nation to have her home bombed. She was inside along with her mother and two sisters.
Why? Mrs. Walls-LaNier says, “We were not interested in making history. We simply wanted to attend the best high school and get the best education possible.”
If you were doing this interview, what question would you ask this magnificent person?