An ongoing illustrative history study
This piece originally posted 7/13/2020
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"The Farmville jail isn't big enough to hold all of us."
(No, we're not done on this topic. Not by a long way, not for a long time. Do the work.)
Another name you almost certainly don't know: Barbara Johns, who led a student-wide walkout at Robert Russa Moton High School in Farmville, Va. On a false pretense she concocted a scheme to distract the principal and lure all 450 students into the auditorium. Originally conceived as a protest at the school's racially segregated facilities and a demand for a new building, Johns's defiant actions ultimately fed into something greater --in this instance it laid the groundwork for one of the five cases that collectvely led to the Supreme Court's landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision.
It goes without saying that there were originally some uncomfortable consequences for such a defiant act in 1951 Virginia --up to and including death threats, necessitating a move to Maryland in order to complete her education. But the long-term effects speak for themselves, and in 2018 Virginia celebrated its first annual Barbara Johns Day on April 23. A statue to her memory now stands on the state Capitol grounds in Richmond, and the Farmville high school itself is now a national landmark and museum.
Permit me to steer you to an excellent New York Times article highlighting this headstrong sixteen year-old's achievements:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/08/obituaries/barbara-johns-overlooked.html
Next page - Lesson 17: James L. Farmer