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16 Queen Margaret Calling :: ISSUE 62 :: October 2018 Middle and Senior School students had the opportunity to learn about being a student in the Black Civil Rights era from someone who saw it through their own eyes. Minnijean Brown-Trickey visited Queen Margaret College as part of a New Zealand tour to high schools, to talk about her life and the importance of equality. Minnijean was a member of the “Little Rock 9”, a group of nine African American students who enrolled and helped integrate their all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. Since her experience in high school Minnijean has travelled the world to teach students about equality and human rights to stop segregation from happening again. Head of Humanities Nadine Allen organised for Minnijean to speak. Year 11 student Isabella Barber says the talk was “very inspiring”. “The majority of her talk centred on a couple of key ideas including to fight for what is rightfully yours and for what you deserve,” she says. “Minnijean said you had to look at bullying or harassment with a great deal of sympathy, because someone has chosen to devalue another. She asked ‘how do you build yourself up in the light of being bullied? It is the individual acts, and the constitutional parts too’.” Isabella and her peers are studying the Black Civil Rights Movement as part of NCEA Level 1 History. “We looked at some of the movements and protests carried out by the African American community and particularly focused on three sections; tactics used, the aims and outcomes, and the long term significance of the campaign. HISTORY MATTERS Minnijean Brown-Trickey talking to students. “One of the movements we studied was the Little Rock 9. We briefly studied the event and many like it, as well as conducting a more in-depth look into the tactics used and their outcomes,” Isabella explains. She says it was “surreal” to have one of the women who took part in the campaign in the roomwith them. “The traumatic events she had to face to simply attend school were horrifying and something nobody should ever have to suffer. It was incredible to hear her stories of the time first-hand. It is evident that the events she faced have shaped her into the confident, kind and wise woman she is today.” “In our upcoming external we will be asked to write an essay on the causes and consequences of the Birmingham Campaign. So while we will not be writing about Little Rock 9, researching the event and others of a similar nature was vital to a much more holistic, well rounded understanding of the movement,” Isabella says. Isabella says she was grateful for the opportunity as it provided a real life insight into life for African Americans during the Black Civil Rights era. LEARNING MIDDLE/SENIOR SCHOOL