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A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School
When fourteen-year-old Carlotta Walls walked up the stairs of Little Rock Central High School on September 25, 1957, she and eight other black students only wanted to make it to class. But the journey of the “Little Rock Nine,” as they came to be known, would lead the nation on an even longer and much more turbulent path, one that would challenge prevailing attitudes, break down barriers, and forever change the landscape of America.
For Carlotta and the eight other children, simply getting through the door of this admired academic institution involved angry mobs, racist elected officials, and intervention by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was forced to send in the 101st Airborne to escort the Nine into the building. But entry was simply the first of many trials. Breaking her silence at last and sharing her story for the first time, Carlotta Walls has written an engrossing memoir that is a testament not only to the power of a single person to make a difference but also to the sacrifices made by families and communities that found themselves a part of history.
For Carlotta and the eight other children, simply getting through the door of this admired academic institution involved angry mobs, racist elected officials, and intervention by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was forced to send in the 101st Airborne to escort the Nine into the building. But entry was simply the first of many trials. Breaking her silence at last and sharing her story for the first time, Carlotta Walls has written an engrossing memoir that is a testament not only to the power of a single person to make a difference but also to the sacrifices made by families and communities that found themselves a part of history.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published August 15, 2009
227 people are currently reading
2930 people want to read
About the author
Carlotta Walls LaNier
3 books19 followersCarlotta Walls LaNier made history as the youngest member of the Little Rock Nine, the nine African-American students who desegregated Central High School in Little Rock (Pulaski County) in 1957.
The oldest of three daughters, Carlotta Walls was born on December 18, 1942, in Little Rock to Juanita and Cartelyou Walls. Her father was a brick mason and a World War II veteran, and her mother was a secretary in the Office of Public Housing.
Inspired by Rosa Parks, whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white passenger sparked the 1955 Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott, as well as the desire to get the best education available, Walls enrolled in Central High School as a sophomore. Some white students called her names and spat on her, and armed guards had to escort her to classes, but she concentrated on her studies and protected herself throughout the school year. Walls and every other Little Rock student were barred from attending Central the next year, when all four Little Rock high schools were closed, but she returned to Central High and graduated in 1960.
Walls attended Michigan State University for two years in the early 1960s before moving with her family to Denver. (Her father could not get work locally after the 1957 crisis.) In 1968, she earned a BS from Colorado State College (now the University of Northern Colorado) and began working at the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) as a program administrator for teenagers.
Also in 1968, Walls married Ira C. “Ike” LaNier, with whom she had a son and a daughter. In 1977, she founded LaNier and Company, a real estate brokerage firm in Denver. She currently resides in Englewood, Colorado.
LaNier was awarded the prestigious Spingarn Medal by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), along with the other Little Rock Nine and Daisy Bates, in 1958. She has also served as president of the Little Rock Nine Foundation, a scholarship organization dedicated to ensuring equal access to education for African Americans, and is a trustee for the Iliff School of Theology and the University of Northern Colorado. In 1999, President Bill Clinton presented the nation’s highest civilian award, the Congressional Gold Medal, to the members of the Little Rock Nine. In 2009, she published her memoir, A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School.
The oldest of three daughters, Carlotta Walls was born on December 18, 1942, in Little Rock to Juanita and Cartelyou Walls. Her father was a brick mason and a World War II veteran, and her mother was a secretary in the Office of Public Housing.
Inspired by Rosa Parks, whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white passenger sparked the 1955 Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott, as well as the desire to get the best education available, Walls enrolled in Central High School as a sophomore. Some white students called her names and spat on her, and armed guards had to escort her to classes, but she concentrated on her studies and protected herself throughout the school year. Walls and every other Little Rock student were barred from attending Central the next year, when all four Little Rock high schools were closed, but she returned to Central High and graduated in 1960.
Walls attended Michigan State University for two years in the early 1960s before moving with her family to Denver. (Her father could not get work locally after the 1957 crisis.) In 1968, she earned a BS from Colorado State College (now the University of Northern Colorado) and began working at the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) as a program administrator for teenagers.
Also in 1968, Walls married Ira C. “Ike” LaNier, with whom she had a son and a daughter. In 1977, she founded LaNier and Company, a real estate brokerage firm in Denver. She currently resides in Englewood, Colorado.
LaNier was awarded the prestigious Spingarn Medal by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), along with the other Little Rock Nine and Daisy Bates, in 1958. She has also served as president of the Little Rock Nine Foundation, a scholarship organization dedicated to ensuring equal access to education for African Americans, and is a trustee for the Iliff School of Theology and the University of Northern Colorado. In 1999, President Bill Clinton presented the nation’s highest civilian award, the Congressional Gold Medal, to the members of the Little Rock Nine. In 2009, she published her memoir, A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School.
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March 25, 2019
Women’s history month (2019) has reached its final week, and at this point I have read about a number of remarkable women with a few more books planned. Not all people planned on being remarkable. Some are ordinary people who just want to do right by their parents’ upbringing. Yet, it is the with the majority of ordinary people doing remarkable, and ordinary, acts that make up the patchwork of most societies. In her memoir A Mighty Long Way, Carlotta Walls LaNier takes readers back to 1957 Arkansas where a seemingly ordinary choice made by her and nine others changed the course of American history.
In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that separate but equal schools were illegal. Many facets of American society had already integrated, lead by the shining examples of Major League Baseball in 1947 and the United States Armed Forces two years later. The American South in the 1950s was still a largely segregationist society. White supremacists believed that African Americans, using not so nice words, should be kept in their place. Separate yet unequal facilities prevailed in the south for years after the passing of the 1965 Civil Rights Act; however, in 1954, the nation’s highest court said that separate but unequal was unconstitutional. This set the stage for a showdown in Little Rock, Arkansas three years later.
Both the Walls and Cullins families were among the leaders of the Little Rock African American communities. Descending from both well to do and respected people, generations of Walls and Cullins had hobnobbed with a who’s who of black America including Satchel Paige and W.E.B. DuBois. By the time Cortelylou Walls married Juanita Cullins, both families had risen through the ranks of black Little Rock and earned the respect of dignified white business owners. Cortelylou and Juanita wanted to do right by their forefathers and were determined to have the best possible life for themselves and their three daughters. Living in the south, that meant attending negro league baseball games, traveling to St Louis in the middle of the night to visit family their and watch baseball games when the revered Jackie Robinson came to town, and taking advantage of public parks designated for black usage. The Walls’ desired that their daughters had a better chance than they had and exposed their oldest daughter Carlotta to life in northern cities including New York City and Chicago. It was after this taste of freedom at age eight that Carlotta Walls realized that she had a chance to succeed in life.
During the 1956-1957 school year, the federal courts mandated that southern schools integrate. Arkansas governor Orval Faubus was a staunch segregationist and did all in his power to prevent integration in his school, yet somehow the integrationists prevailed. Little Rock Central High School was to integrate for the 1957 school year. Called the most beautiful high school in America, Central was previously a building that African Americans could only dream about. They had their own excellent schools Dunbar and Mann lead by educators determined that their children should have as quality of an education as that of whites. The Walls family lived within the boundaries of Central so Carlotta, knowing that her parents believed in obtaining the best possible, signed up to attend Central. She was accepted to integrate the school along with nine others. Little did she know that her life would never be the same after that.
Governor Faubus tried his hardest to keep the Little Rock Nine out of his school. Sheltered and lead by NAACP leader Daisy Bates, Carlotta and her fellow students were forced to sit out the first month of their school year. Both they and their families faced constant threats on a daily basis, some as severe as cross burning and bombing attempts on their homes. Segregationists feared that if these nine students prevailed, that segregation throughout the south would soon be over. On September 25, 1957, Faubus temporarily lost his legal battle, and the 101st Airborn Division escorted the nine students to school. The verbal and physical abuse that they faced on a daily basis; however, was ongoing. Looking back, Carlotta Walls believes that she and her classmates were chosen not because they were the top students but because they came from upstanding families and were leaders in student government, theater, and sports. The Little Rock Nine, as they were soon dubbed, were like the Jackie Robinson of school integration. No fighting back, and cool heads would prevail, despite the constant abuse and name calling. With intervention from a handful of white administrators as well as constant communication from Daisy Bates, somehow the students got through the school year. As stressful as the year was, to African Americans, the Little Rock Nine were heroes.
Carlotta Walls never did meet Jackie Robinson but she did meet Satchel Paige and Thurgood Marshall on multiple occasions. Such was the price of her new found fame. Governor Faubus decided to shut down all of Little Rock’s high schools for the 1958-1959 school year. Carlotta learned by correspondence course to keep up with her schoolwork, yet the lost year was a struggle. Other members of her group chose to attend school out of state so that they would graduate on time or early, yet Carlotta was determined to graduate from Central or so she believed the segregationists would win. Despite a bombing threat to her home, Carlotta graduated from Central High in 1960, and then was determined to never go back to Little Rock. Eventually her family settled in Denver, a northern, more integrated city, and Carlotta never brought up her role as a member of the Little Rock Nine. It was too painful for her to face the memories.
For the 40th reunion of integration, President Bill Clinton invited the Little Rock Nine and their parents to Little Rock, and Carlotta was finally ready to face the ghosts of her past. She and her colleagues formed the Little Rock Nine Foundation to provide both scholarships and educational opportunities to deserving minority students. She has spoken all over the United States about her role in integrating society and has gone from a crowd pleasing young woman to a headstrong adult. In collaboration with Washington Post columnist Lisa Frazier Page, Carlotta Walls LaNier used her platform as president of the Little Rock Nine Foundation to write this memoir. A Mighty Long Way is a painful reminder of America’s past yet a testament to the perseverance of a young woman who was determined to not let segregation prevail, and a worthy addition to my women’s history month lineup.
4+ stars
In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that separate but equal schools were illegal. Many facets of American society had already integrated, lead by the shining examples of Major League Baseball in 1947 and the United States Armed Forces two years later. The American South in the 1950s was still a largely segregationist society. White supremacists believed that African Americans, using not so nice words, should be kept in their place. Separate yet unequal facilities prevailed in the south for years after the passing of the 1965 Civil Rights Act; however, in 1954, the nation’s highest court said that separate but unequal was unconstitutional. This set the stage for a showdown in Little Rock, Arkansas three years later.
Both the Walls and Cullins families were among the leaders of the Little Rock African American communities. Descending from both well to do and respected people, generations of Walls and Cullins had hobnobbed with a who’s who of black America including Satchel Paige and W.E.B. DuBois. By the time Cortelylou Walls married Juanita Cullins, both families had risen through the ranks of black Little Rock and earned the respect of dignified white business owners. Cortelylou and Juanita wanted to do right by their forefathers and were determined to have the best possible life for themselves and their three daughters. Living in the south, that meant attending negro league baseball games, traveling to St Louis in the middle of the night to visit family their and watch baseball games when the revered Jackie Robinson came to town, and taking advantage of public parks designated for black usage. The Walls’ desired that their daughters had a better chance than they had and exposed their oldest daughter Carlotta to life in northern cities including New York City and Chicago. It was after this taste of freedom at age eight that Carlotta Walls realized that she had a chance to succeed in life.
During the 1956-1957 school year, the federal courts mandated that southern schools integrate. Arkansas governor Orval Faubus was a staunch segregationist and did all in his power to prevent integration in his school, yet somehow the integrationists prevailed. Little Rock Central High School was to integrate for the 1957 school year. Called the most beautiful high school in America, Central was previously a building that African Americans could only dream about. They had their own excellent schools Dunbar and Mann lead by educators determined that their children should have as quality of an education as that of whites. The Walls family lived within the boundaries of Central so Carlotta, knowing that her parents believed in obtaining the best possible, signed up to attend Central. She was accepted to integrate the school along with nine others. Little did she know that her life would never be the same after that.
Governor Faubus tried his hardest to keep the Little Rock Nine out of his school. Sheltered and lead by NAACP leader Daisy Bates, Carlotta and her fellow students were forced to sit out the first month of their school year. Both they and their families faced constant threats on a daily basis, some as severe as cross burning and bombing attempts on their homes. Segregationists feared that if these nine students prevailed, that segregation throughout the south would soon be over. On September 25, 1957, Faubus temporarily lost his legal battle, and the 101st Airborn Division escorted the nine students to school. The verbal and physical abuse that they faced on a daily basis; however, was ongoing. Looking back, Carlotta Walls believes that she and her classmates were chosen not because they were the top students but because they came from upstanding families and were leaders in student government, theater, and sports. The Little Rock Nine, as they were soon dubbed, were like the Jackie Robinson of school integration. No fighting back, and cool heads would prevail, despite the constant abuse and name calling. With intervention from a handful of white administrators as well as constant communication from Daisy Bates, somehow the students got through the school year. As stressful as the year was, to African Americans, the Little Rock Nine were heroes.
Carlotta Walls never did meet Jackie Robinson but she did meet Satchel Paige and Thurgood Marshall on multiple occasions. Such was the price of her new found fame. Governor Faubus decided to shut down all of Little Rock’s high schools for the 1958-1959 school year. Carlotta learned by correspondence course to keep up with her schoolwork, yet the lost year was a struggle. Other members of her group chose to attend school out of state so that they would graduate on time or early, yet Carlotta was determined to graduate from Central or so she believed the segregationists would win. Despite a bombing threat to her home, Carlotta graduated from Central High in 1960, and then was determined to never go back to Little Rock. Eventually her family settled in Denver, a northern, more integrated city, and Carlotta never brought up her role as a member of the Little Rock Nine. It was too painful for her to face the memories.
For the 40th reunion of integration, President Bill Clinton invited the Little Rock Nine and their parents to Little Rock, and Carlotta was finally ready to face the ghosts of her past. She and her colleagues formed the Little Rock Nine Foundation to provide both scholarships and educational opportunities to deserving minority students. She has spoken all over the United States about her role in integrating society and has gone from a crowd pleasing young woman to a headstrong adult. In collaboration with Washington Post columnist Lisa Frazier Page, Carlotta Walls LaNier used her platform as president of the Little Rock Nine Foundation to write this memoir. A Mighty Long Way is a painful reminder of America’s past yet a testament to the perseverance of a young woman who was determined to not let segregation prevail, and a worthy addition to my women’s history month lineup.
4+ stars
May 24, 2019
Thoughts soon.
March 31, 2024
Lanier was the youngest of the Little Rock Nine—the nine Black kids who went to Central high school after it was forcibly integrated. As a high-achieving, captain of this, queen of that 8th grader, when she heard that Central was opening to Black kids, signing up was a no-brainer: it was a much better school, with much nicer equipment and labs, and it was closer to her house than the all-Black-by-default high school. She had no idea what was coming. When she showed up to Central the first day, the National Guard was there—to keep the Nine safe, she thought, because crowds were jeering and spitting at them—but the state governor had actually called out the Guard to prevent the Black kids from entering (it was the President who integrated the school, not the governor). The Nine were not allowed to participate in any sports or extracurriculars, a shock to the usually-involved-in-everything Carlotta. Many of the Nine didn’t return to Central after the first year. Carlotta, the youngest, entering as a freshman, survived all four years and was the first Black female graduate of the school. Fantastic and eye-opening, with a forward by Bill Clinton.
December 2, 2023
A Little Rock Nine Student Tells Her Story
In 1957, nine courageous African American students enrolled in Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas as part of an effort to implement the Supreme Court's landmark desegregation ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. The story of the Little Rock Nine, the abuse they endured, the endless legal machinations, the hostile crowds and mobs who attempted to block their entry has been told many times in print and in the media. But this new book, "A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School" offers an irreplaceably intimate account of Little Rock. The author, Carlotta Walls Lanier, was the youngest member of the Little Rock Nine. She enrolled in Central as a sophomore in 1957-1958, studied elsewhere in 1958-1959 when Arkansas Governor Orville Faubus closed the High Schools in Little Rock, and completed her senior year and graduated in 1959-1960. Walls was one of only three members of the Little Rock Nine to graduate. In this book, Walls, with the assistance of editor and reporter Lisa Frazer Page, tells her story. Simplicity and sincerity come through in Walls's memoir. She does not dwell abstractly on the legal and political maneuvers that would be found in a historical account of the Little Rock confrontation. Walls focuses instead on what happened to her and to her family and friends. She allows the reader to see her feelings, fears, and hopes, and how they changed over the years. This is a deeply personal account. Walls sets the stage with an effective discussion of her family and of her decision to attend Little Rock Central. She captures the fear of running the gauntlet of a large mob, even after President Eisenhower called out the Federal troops. Most compellingly, Walls describes the torment she endured in the school from many of the students, the spitting, violence, and name-calling. I came to understand what Walls in a spirit of quiet heroism had to suffer. During Walls's senior year at Central, the family home was dynamited. Walls's father was brought in for questioning and beaten by the police. A young friend of the family was convicted of the crime, and Walls argues persuasively that he was innocent. She persevered through graduation, and left Little Rock immediately upon receiving her diploma. Walls experienced a difficult time in settling down and finding a path in her life at Michigan State and then in Denver. Ultimately she graduated from college, made a happy marriage, had two children, and established a successful career in real estate. For nearly 30 years, Walls would not talk about Little Rock or disclose that she had been one of the Little Rock Nine, even to her husband. With reunions of the Little Rock Nine in 1987 and with the passage of time, Walls became more open with herself and with others in discussing her youthful experience at Little Rock Central. Her discussions in the book of her changes in attitude with time, from the events of 1957-1960, to the long intervening years of silence, and to Walls's current activities as a writer, speaker, and chairman of the Little Rock Nine Foundation themselves reveal a great deal about her experience and her reaction to it. There is a great deal in the book about friendship, music, college life and dating, and sports. Walls also shows the reader much excellent characterization of her family. We get a three-dimensional portrayal of the author over time of the sort that would not be found in a historical study. Portions of this book capture the chilling immediacy that Walls faced in 1957, and portions show these events in memory 50 years later. We get an individualized view of a pervasive situation. This is a moving book that undoubtedly will receive a great deal of attention. It will help bring to life for many people the struggle for justice in Little Rock.
Robin Friedman
In 1957, nine courageous African American students enrolled in Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas as part of an effort to implement the Supreme Court's landmark desegregation ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. The story of the Little Rock Nine, the abuse they endured, the endless legal machinations, the hostile crowds and mobs who attempted to block their entry has been told many times in print and in the media. But this new book, "A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School" offers an irreplaceably intimate account of Little Rock. The author, Carlotta Walls Lanier, was the youngest member of the Little Rock Nine. She enrolled in Central as a sophomore in 1957-1958, studied elsewhere in 1958-1959 when Arkansas Governor Orville Faubus closed the High Schools in Little Rock, and completed her senior year and graduated in 1959-1960. Walls was one of only three members of the Little Rock Nine to graduate. In this book, Walls, with the assistance of editor and reporter Lisa Frazer Page, tells her story. Simplicity and sincerity come through in Walls's memoir. She does not dwell abstractly on the legal and political maneuvers that would be found in a historical account of the Little Rock confrontation. Walls focuses instead on what happened to her and to her family and friends. She allows the reader to see her feelings, fears, and hopes, and how they changed over the years. This is a deeply personal account. Walls sets the stage with an effective discussion of her family and of her decision to attend Little Rock Central. She captures the fear of running the gauntlet of a large mob, even after President Eisenhower called out the Federal troops. Most compellingly, Walls describes the torment she endured in the school from many of the students, the spitting, violence, and name-calling. I came to understand what Walls in a spirit of quiet heroism had to suffer. During Walls's senior year at Central, the family home was dynamited. Walls's father was brought in for questioning and beaten by the police. A young friend of the family was convicted of the crime, and Walls argues persuasively that he was innocent. She persevered through graduation, and left Little Rock immediately upon receiving her diploma. Walls experienced a difficult time in settling down and finding a path in her life at Michigan State and then in Denver. Ultimately she graduated from college, made a happy marriage, had two children, and established a successful career in real estate. For nearly 30 years, Walls would not talk about Little Rock or disclose that she had been one of the Little Rock Nine, even to her husband. With reunions of the Little Rock Nine in 1987 and with the passage of time, Walls became more open with herself and with others in discussing her youthful experience at Little Rock Central. Her discussions in the book of her changes in attitude with time, from the events of 1957-1960, to the long intervening years of silence, and to Walls's current activities as a writer, speaker, and chairman of the Little Rock Nine Foundation themselves reveal a great deal about her experience and her reaction to it. There is a great deal in the book about friendship, music, college life and dating, and sports. Walls also shows the reader much excellent characterization of her family. We get a three-dimensional portrayal of the author over time of the sort that would not be found in a historical study. Portions of this book capture the chilling immediacy that Walls faced in 1957, and portions show these events in memory 50 years later. We get an individualized view of a pervasive situation. This is a moving book that undoubtedly will receive a great deal of attention. It will help bring to life for many people the struggle for justice in Little Rock.
Robin Friedman
March 8, 2024
3.5 stars
So this was interesting. It was boring sometimes but also really put a perspective on things.
So this was interesting. It was boring sometimes but also really put a perspective on things.
December 13, 2018
"... It will be a sad day for this country—both at home and abroad—if school children can safely attend their classes only under the protection of armed guards." --President Eisenhower
I grew up in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, and lived just outside of Little Rock for 7 years prior to leaving for graduate school. I never learned about the Little Rock Nine in school, be it elementary, high school or college.* When I was in my early 20s I befriended a new neighbor who happened to be a teacher at Central High School in Little Rock. SHE is the first person to mention the Little Rock Nine to me. I looked up the basic facts, and drove by campus, but only recently decided to gain more understanding on what the events around the integration of schools and the civil rights movement would have been like to live through.
"This was not going to be an ordinary school year. Blossom certainly had made that clear. But even then, I wasn’t particularly worried. The advantage—or disadvantage—of youth is that you don’t know how much you don’t know; you can barely conceptualize those things you’ve never seen."
I chose this particular book because it's a first hand account of the life of Carlotta Walls, one of the students who made up the Little Rock Nine, and eventually became a graduate of Central High School. She walks us through everyday life in a segregated society. She describes what it was like to be on the other side of the lens in those infamous first day pictures, where mobs protest her being allowed in the school closest to her home.
"It never occurred to me as I grew up to question, even in my mind, why colored folks could go to the park only on certain days, why we had to climb to the back of the bus, or why stopping at a gas station to use the bathroom in most areas of the South wasn’t even an option."
If you're in the market for not just the events around integration, but also what life was like in the segregated south as a contrast to her visiting family in northern cities, Carlotta's words will both move and often frustrate you.
*I would like to add that my husband, who grew up in a larger town in Arkansas, between Little Rock and Memphis, TN, did learn about the Little Rock Nine.
October 26, 2020
This forthright, earnest narrative tells about an important event in the United States' racial history. The public schools were desegregated in Virginia where I lived when I entered the eighth grade. It was much harder for the author when she entered her chosen high school during the Jim Crow era. I found a lot of the reading to be painful and shameful. We have gotten better, thank goodness. I enjoyed her discussions of jazz and soul music. I also liked her vivid writing about her different family members, especially her parents.
May 30, 2019
Carlotta Walls was one of the Arkansas Nine, the group of nine African American teens who endured taunts, threats and abuse to integrate the Little Rock School District. This is her memoir, focusing on her involvement in that historic battle. At a time that is seeing increased allegations of police violence against African Americans and the rise of hate groups in the U.S. and Europe, this is a story that needs to be told. I appreciated her story more than her writing.
September 7, 2009
A childhood should be happy; Going to school, hanging with friends, learning and preparing for adulthood; But sadly for so many, it isn't. One of the best memoirs I have read was by one of the former Little Rock Nine Melba Patillo Beals detailing her life specifically as one of the first of nine young people to integrate Little Rock Arkansas' Central High School in 1957; I kind of wish that the others would do the same, but I can accept that some things you truly want to forget because it is so hard. With time, another Little Rock Nine, Carlotta Walls Lanier has come out with her own offering of that time, making it one of the most interesting and riveting reads I have read this year. Born in 1942, in Little Rock, Carlotta spent the first eight grades of school in a segregated setting. Then the Supreme Court decision stating that segregation was unconstitutional brought about the changes. When a letter circulated for black students to go to Central came about, Carlotta signed up since Central was close to where she lived. What she signed up for changed her life in ways she didn't expect. For one, there had to meet with the Superintendent for rules and regulations; they couldn't participate in extra cirriculum activities, attend games, dances, or date anyone there. Basically they went to school and went home. But when they tried to enter the school, they were met with mobs of angry whites, hostility and tension at every hand. It sadly took another court order and the 101 Airborne Division to come there and make sure those nine students went to school; But, it didn't stop the unwelcome attacks these nine students endured. And oh, did they endure some things. dropped books, hits, punches, stuff spilled on clothes, my heart went out completely for these young people. When the school year ended, with Ernest Green graduating(the first Black to do so), the Superintendent then closed down the high schools for the following year causing headache, grief and pain for a lot of people. Carlotta and Jefferson Thomas became the second and third graduates to finish from Central in 1960; some of the others had to leave due to overwhelming pressure. Carlotta's family home was bombed in 1960, and her father was questioned incessantly along with two neighbors who they charged with the crime. Eventually, Carlotta and her family ended up moving away from Little Rock settling eventually in Colorado; She went to college, married and had kids; but for a time, she didn't discuss her role in the Central High School event until a movie about the incident came on tv. Then folks reached out to ask her to talk about it; She was reluctant at first, but in time she did; With time, she and her other eight comrades started their own foundation which helps gives scholarships among other things. She has her own real estate firm in Colorado and I tend to feel that perhaps this book was to put closure to what she has been through. I highly recommend the book. If you can, check out the other books dealing with this incident; Daisy Bates, who helped spearhead the effort and was there for the Nine and helped in the battles they endured has written her own book; Melba Beals Patillo has written one, there is a movie about Ernest Green's life; It is worth a look, and whenever you see someone across from you who is not the same color as you at school, think about those nine brave young people who took a risk to make it happen.
May 2, 2013
This is a very riveting story of this young girl’s attendance at an all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas. The abuse she experienced during her first year was horrible. The school actually closed after her first year - a belated victory for the white segregationists. She managed to complete her high school diploma after the school was re-opened.
This is the same school that President Eisenhower was forced to send in the 101st Airborne to allow nine African American students to attend. The author was one of those nine. The troops were successful in preventing adults from stopping the students from attending. One does wonder who these adults were who were so filled with hatred? The troops were less successful in preventing the nine students from undergoing constant abuse from their white student peers in the high school, which they withstood with admirable tolerance. In a sense both the troops and the nine students were out-numbered by the trouble-makers.
The psychological toll this brought on these nine students is well depicted in the book. The author was not able to communicate her anguish to her parents. Her parents’ house was actually bombed; but instead of targeting the local white racists, the police arrested some of her African American neighbours! They were convicted by a ‘kangaroo’ court.
The guilt the author has for causing her parents and neighbours these burdens has extended over her entire life. Both she and her parents moved out of Little Rock shortly after her graduation. Truly they are victims of racial hate which was carried on not only by ignorant students and individuals but also condoned and encouraged by the local state government.
The book also demonstrates how disconnected the South was from the rest of the country. During the summer after the first year the “Little Rock Nine” were feted in cities across the North by white and black groups alike; but back in Little Rock they were pariahs and despised as agitators and trouble-makers. It is a sad reflection of the Eisenhower era that this is one of the few things he initiated for civil rights.
At least today they have the honour of being welcomed by Governor Clinton to their old high school in Little Rock – during the time when he was Governor of Arkansas. There is also a beautiful statue of the nine of them outside of the state government. So at least here is recompense from the government of the grave mistakes made when they were just young students trying to get an education. A very fine and captivating book.
This is the same school that President Eisenhower was forced to send in the 101st Airborne to allow nine African American students to attend. The author was one of those nine. The troops were successful in preventing adults from stopping the students from attending. One does wonder who these adults were who were so filled with hatred? The troops were less successful in preventing the nine students from undergoing constant abuse from their white student peers in the high school, which they withstood with admirable tolerance. In a sense both the troops and the nine students were out-numbered by the trouble-makers.
The psychological toll this brought on these nine students is well depicted in the book. The author was not able to communicate her anguish to her parents. Her parents’ house was actually bombed; but instead of targeting the local white racists, the police arrested some of her African American neighbours! They were convicted by a ‘kangaroo’ court.
The guilt the author has for causing her parents and neighbours these burdens has extended over her entire life. Both she and her parents moved out of Little Rock shortly after her graduation. Truly they are victims of racial hate which was carried on not only by ignorant students and individuals but also condoned and encouraged by the local state government.
The book also demonstrates how disconnected the South was from the rest of the country. During the summer after the first year the “Little Rock Nine” were feted in cities across the North by white and black groups alike; but back in Little Rock they were pariahs and despised as agitators and trouble-makers. It is a sad reflection of the Eisenhower era that this is one of the few things he initiated for civil rights.
At least today they have the honour of being welcomed by Governor Clinton to their old high school in Little Rock – during the time when he was Governor of Arkansas. There is also a beautiful statue of the nine of them outside of the state government. So at least here is recompense from the government of the grave mistakes made when they were just young students trying to get an education. A very fine and captivating book.
October 23, 2017
In 1957, 14 year old Carlotta Walls, along with eight other black students, excitedly decided to take advantage of the newly legislated opportunity to integrate into a white school in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was a bright student and wanted to have access to the best possible education, an opportunity that Central High School would offer. Not only that, she was also looking forward to making new friends and exchanging cultural ideas with her fellow white students. The reality became a nightmare that forced these children to grow up quickly. We're all familiar with the media photos of a lone Elizabethe Eckford (who'd missed the message about the rendez-vous with her fellow students) surrounded by a huge hate-filled white crowd, but that was only the beginning. From then on, these students faced daily verbal and physical abuse, not to mention indifference from some teachers who turned a blind eye. They were also not permitted to take part in any extra curricula activities at the school. In addition, their families suffered. Carlotta's father found it difficult to get regular work and their house was eventually bombed. She herself was torn between her need to stand up for her rights, and her guilt at the effects on those closest to her, especially when her own home was bombed, almost certainly by segregationists, and her father and a neighbouring black child were wrongfully accused.
In spite of all this, all nine graduated, some after moving to other areas, and all went on to have successful careers. For many years, Carlotta buried the memories of these years as being too painful, but eventually began speaking out to school children of her experience.
These children were true pioneers in the civil rights movement. Their story is difficult to read, and in many places I was moved to tears by the sheer injustice they faced, but it's also ultimately a story of the triumph of a group of incredibly brave and determined young people.
In spite of all this, all nine graduated, some after moving to other areas, and all went on to have successful careers. For many years, Carlotta buried the memories of these years as being too painful, but eventually began speaking out to school children of her experience.
These children were true pioneers in the civil rights movement. Their story is difficult to read, and in many places I was moved to tears by the sheer injustice they faced, but it's also ultimately a story of the triumph of a group of incredibly brave and determined young people.
April 5, 2011
POWERFUL. POIGNANT. INSPIRING.
To a cocksure, cavalier, albeit grossly naïve, sixteen year old white boy in London, Kentucky/New Haven, Connecticut, 1957—a year of 15¢ McDonalds’ hamburgers and 10¢ french-fries; of newly-born rock-’n-roll, transistor radios and 45 rpm records; of Johnny Cash and Ferlin Husky; of Bill Haley, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley—was quite possibly the best year in the history of forever. To a fourteen year old black girl in Little Rock, Arkansas, however, it was quite probably her most horrible nightmare—as Carlotta Walls Lanier, the youngest member of the vehemently cursed and deservedly praised ‘Little Rock Nine,’ poignantly relates in her compelling memoir, ‘A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School.’
This is a book for which to be grateful. Carlotta Walls Lanier is a lady for whom to be thankful.
Recommendation: I most highly recommend this book, especially to all fourteen and sixteen year olds—regardless of their age, ethnicity, gender or naiveté. If you read only one non-fiction book this year, make it this one.
A few favored quotes:
“The granite eyes of those four Greek gods and goddesses above my head seemed to peer down at me: Ambition. Personality. Opportunity. Preparation. Walk with me now, I implored.”—page 98
“A newspaper report estimated that the cost of federal protection for the ‘Little Rock Nine’ that school year had been a whopping $3.4 million. …more than twice the amount it had cost to build Central [High School] thirty years earlier.”—page 129
“Relief washed over me like a cooling rain when I heard my name. It was all over: the isolation, the harassment, the death threats, the terror. I’d come a mighty long way to get to this day.”—page 204
One World Books Trade Paperback Edition, 296 pages
To a cocksure, cavalier, albeit grossly naïve, sixteen year old white boy in London, Kentucky/New Haven, Connecticut, 1957—a year of 15¢ McDonalds’ hamburgers and 10¢ french-fries; of newly-born rock-’n-roll, transistor radios and 45 rpm records; of Johnny Cash and Ferlin Husky; of Bill Haley, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley—was quite possibly the best year in the history of forever. To a fourteen year old black girl in Little Rock, Arkansas, however, it was quite probably her most horrible nightmare—as Carlotta Walls Lanier, the youngest member of the vehemently cursed and deservedly praised ‘Little Rock Nine,’ poignantly relates in her compelling memoir, ‘A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School.’
This is a book for which to be grateful. Carlotta Walls Lanier is a lady for whom to be thankful.
Recommendation: I most highly recommend this book, especially to all fourteen and sixteen year olds—regardless of their age, ethnicity, gender or naiveté. If you read only one non-fiction book this year, make it this one.
A few favored quotes:
“The granite eyes of those four Greek gods and goddesses above my head seemed to peer down at me: Ambition. Personality. Opportunity. Preparation. Walk with me now, I implored.”—page 98
“A newspaper report estimated that the cost of federal protection for the ‘Little Rock Nine’ that school year had been a whopping $3.4 million. …more than twice the amount it had cost to build Central [High School] thirty years earlier.”—page 129
“Relief washed over me like a cooling rain when I heard my name. It was all over: the isolation, the harassment, the death threats, the terror. I’d come a mighty long way to get to this day.”—page 204
One World Books Trade Paperback Edition, 296 pages
August 30, 2017
I must confess, the whole time Carlotta Walls LaNier was talking about her days at Central High School, I was thinking she should have quit and enrolled in the black high school. The black high school she would have gone to got less money from the state than Central High, but the teachers there were dedicated to educating their students, so they would succeed after high school. Moreover, she could have joined extra-curricular groups and gone to dances. More importantly, she would not have been tripped, taunted, shoved and spit on by her fellow students.
I am truly astounded at the courage of the black students who led the way to school integration. The fact Mrs. LaNier has no regrets of sticking it out, and did go on to have a happy, successful life made the book a bit easier to read, too. This is a top-notch story of the early days of the Civil Rights Movement, and what happened to those who were the Little Rock Nine. If you want to see them on DVD, do rent, buy, or check out of the library the glorious DVD documentary Eyes On The Prize. The story of the Little Rock Nine is on the first DVD in the second episode.
(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)
I am truly astounded at the courage of the black students who led the way to school integration. The fact Mrs. LaNier has no regrets of sticking it out, and did go on to have a happy, successful life made the book a bit easier to read, too. This is a top-notch story of the early days of the Civil Rights Movement, and what happened to those who were the Little Rock Nine. If you want to see them on DVD, do rent, buy, or check out of the library the glorious DVD documentary Eyes On The Prize. The story of the Little Rock Nine is on the first DVD in the second episode.
(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)
October 10, 2019
I've read other books about the Little Rock Nine, and it surprises me that I can still be shocked by the organized hatred and bigotry the kids faced every single day. Those kids carried us all forward, and it disgusts me that we've been going backward in recent years. How have we let segregation become as big a problem as it was in the 1960s? Everyone should know Carlotta's story. That they don't is part of the problem.
January 1, 2020
This was riveting. I knew barely anything about the integration process at Little Rock Central High School - it's the history of another time and another country - apart from, of course, the handful of really famous photographs that resulted from it. So when I came across this book on a list of recommended nonfiction, I thought it would be an enlightening read, and it was. What struck me, more than anything - more than the sheer viciousness of the white response to black kids getting an education, which was sadly not much of a surprise, for all the horror of it - was just how long the entire process was. I had this nebulous sort of idea that when the ruling came down, troops were sent in immediately and it was all over fairly quickly. Readers, it was not. It was, instead, a long miserable battle that went on for years and inflicted enormous trauma on the protagonists. It's very clear from the author's story that she was profoundly affected, as was her entire family.
And while this was an excellent and thought-provoking read, I am a little sorry not to have had the perspective of that family included here. Walls' parents, for instance, must have been absolutely terrified for their daughter, and while their continued refusal to burden their adolescent child with their own struggles was clearly born out of a desire to protect her, that refusal seems to have extended well into adulthood, as even decades later their half of the story is not really here. Some of it can be seen through gaps and empathy, but even so it is I think something which might have made a very strong memoir even stronger.
And while this was an excellent and thought-provoking read, I am a little sorry not to have had the perspective of that family included here. Walls' parents, for instance, must have been absolutely terrified for their daughter, and while their continued refusal to burden their adolescent child with their own struggles was clearly born out of a desire to protect her, that refusal seems to have extended well into adulthood, as even decades later their half of the story is not really here. Some of it can be seen through gaps and empathy, but even so it is I think something which might have made a very strong memoir even stronger.
August 8, 2023
4.5 stars
When the opportunity arose to attend Central High School in 1957, fourteen year old Carlotta Walls signed up, not because she wanted to be a trailblazer but because she wanted the best education she could get to prepare her for college. She and the eight other Black students who made that decision faced unimaginable harassment. Walls LaNier shares her story in A MIGHTY LONG WAY.
What a story this is! I was horrified at the way these young people were treated and amazed at their composure and dignity. I had heard of the Little Rock Nine but this book really made their story personal. LaNier reads the audio version and does a terrific job. Her emotional story made me tear up more than once.
When the opportunity arose to attend Central High School in 1957, fourteen year old Carlotta Walls signed up, not because she wanted to be a trailblazer but because she wanted the best education she could get to prepare her for college. She and the eight other Black students who made that decision faced unimaginable harassment. Walls LaNier shares her story in A MIGHTY LONG WAY.
What a story this is! I was horrified at the way these young people were treated and amazed at their composure and dignity. I had heard of the Little Rock Nine but this book really made their story personal. LaNier reads the audio version and does a terrific job. Her emotional story made me tear up more than once.
January 16, 2013
ISBN 034551100X - Books about Civil Rights have taken on new interest for me, especially with the election of Barack Obama, the death of civil rights warrior Senator Ted Kennedy, and the (hopefully) shifting view of race in this country. That was the reason I picked up this particular book. I got what I was looking for and much more.
Carlotta Walls Lanier begins her story years before she became famous as part of the Little Rock Nine. A short family history and her life story, up to age 14, lead up to the events that threw her into the national, even international, spotlight. The story of the Little Rock Nine, nine black students who simply wanted to better their education, and their Herculean efforts to do the most mundane of things - walk through the door of their high school - is well-known, but Walls's viewpoint is fresher and certainly more immediate than something written by an historian.
There's something in the writing style here that's hard to explain. The general population, regardless of age, could probably sit down and write about something traumatic that happened during high school, possibly even something that spanned the entirety of their high school career. The reader of that effort would, most likely, read it with a sense of "oh, look, a band-aid", not finding anything there that was especially deep. I don't know why that is, precisely. Perhaps that's because Walls Lanier (with Lisa Frazier Page) is a far more gifted writer than most of us; perhaps it's because her story is far bigger than the average high school story. Whatever the reason, reading this book had the "oh, look, a band-aid" feel for about 50 pages. After that, the band-aid was off and what you thought was under it... was under it.
Much of Walls Lanier's book doesn't read like it was written by a woman in her 60s, the voice here is 14 years old, mostly innocent, and - eventually - scared, wounded, even quietly angry. She doesn't sound like a heroine. She doesn't sound like an icon. She sounds like an intelligent child who walks through fire, not to showcase her bravery, but because it's the way to get where she's trying to go. The ability to reach back and speak in that voice is a gift, here, and probably a curse for the author. Her memories seem stark and detailed, the kind that few events in most lives ever evoke, and if they live as vividly in her mind as they do on these pages, I hope that writing them down eases them for her. I've never read a book before that made me feel quite as much as this one does - from anger and sympathy to awe and inspiration, and even some light-hearted moments. I am a fan of the book, yes, but a far bigger fan of Walls, her eight fellow students and the people who helped them along the way, as best they could.
- AnnaLovesBooks
Carlotta Walls Lanier begins her story years before she became famous as part of the Little Rock Nine. A short family history and her life story, up to age 14, lead up to the events that threw her into the national, even international, spotlight. The story of the Little Rock Nine, nine black students who simply wanted to better their education, and their Herculean efforts to do the most mundane of things - walk through the door of their high school - is well-known, but Walls's viewpoint is fresher and certainly more immediate than something written by an historian.
There's something in the writing style here that's hard to explain. The general population, regardless of age, could probably sit down and write about something traumatic that happened during high school, possibly even something that spanned the entirety of their high school career. The reader of that effort would, most likely, read it with a sense of "oh, look, a band-aid", not finding anything there that was especially deep. I don't know why that is, precisely. Perhaps that's because Walls Lanier (with Lisa Frazier Page) is a far more gifted writer than most of us; perhaps it's because her story is far bigger than the average high school story. Whatever the reason, reading this book had the "oh, look, a band-aid" feel for about 50 pages. After that, the band-aid was off and what you thought was under it... was under it.
Much of Walls Lanier's book doesn't read like it was written by a woman in her 60s, the voice here is 14 years old, mostly innocent, and - eventually - scared, wounded, even quietly angry. She doesn't sound like a heroine. She doesn't sound like an icon. She sounds like an intelligent child who walks through fire, not to showcase her bravery, but because it's the way to get where she's trying to go. The ability to reach back and speak in that voice is a gift, here, and probably a curse for the author. Her memories seem stark and detailed, the kind that few events in most lives ever evoke, and if they live as vividly in her mind as they do on these pages, I hope that writing them down eases them for her. I've never read a book before that made me feel quite as much as this one does - from anger and sympathy to awe and inspiration, and even some light-hearted moments. I am a fan of the book, yes, but a far bigger fan of Walls, her eight fellow students and the people who helped them along the way, as best they could.
- AnnaLovesBooks
November 1, 2022
What an incredible memoir of a defining moment in modern American History. This title was the One Book One Bakersfield book for the Fall of 2022. Carlotta Walls LaNier was the guest speaker at CSUB 10/27/22. Alas, I could not not attend. Carlotta Walls, as a 14 year old, was stronger than anyone could have imagined. How her parents had the strength to permit their daughter to continue with her desire to attend Little Rock Central High School is beyond my scope of understanding. THEY WERE ALL STRONG! Where did they find such courage? The writing craft was a bit underwhelming-Mrs. LaNier's co-writer included too many ands and buts to begin sentences. This memoir is not an oral conversation with an acquaintance, it is a recollection of history changing events and deserved to be written a tad more formally. Carlotta Walls is a living hero. Her story is a 5 star, her co-writer produced 3 star writing. The result a 4 star read. I learned much!
May 11, 2025
a great reminder that meaningful change begins with ordinary people just doing what is right & remaining persistent beyond all odds.
March 20, 2010
I just finished A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School by Carlotta Walls LaNier with Lisa Frazier Page. Carlotta was one of the Little Rock Nine. If that means nothing to you let me recount a little history: "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954),[1:] was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students, denying black children equal educational opportunities unconstitutional." Wikipedia. I am sure there were places where this ruling was happily accepted and school districts immediately began correcting the wrongs. Even in Arkansas several small towns integrated. In 1955, the Little Rock school board came up with a very conservative, gradual (phased in over six years) introduction of integration. First the school board built two new high schools one for whites and one for blacks. This move was very popular in the black community - they were very proud of this new school. Then Nine extremely successful students from exemplary family backgrounds were hand-picked to attend Little Rock Central High in the fall of 1957. It was further planned that in the following years more carefully chosen students would enter the all-white junior high and elementary schools. Well, things did not go smoothly. The nine students were harassed by mobs outside the school, mistreated by fellow students and not supported by many of the teachers. Segregationist bombed several locations including Carlotta's home. These nine children were traumatized but almost all of them stuck it out.
Carlotta describes her experiences in tense terms, chapter after chapter. At the end of the book she brings up the unspeakable; black parents no longer uniformly support all the children within their reach, they hold education in low regard. Carlotta said, "I didn't go to Central because I felt a strong desire to sit next to white people in class. I put my life on the line because I believed Central offered the best academic opportunities. I had hoped that the resulting interaction with people of another race would be a bonus, a great exchange of cultures and ideas. It is hurtful now when I hear that in many urban schools, where the student populations tend to be overwhelmingly black, it is not considered cool to be smart. . . . How did we -- particularly black men and women who endured the struggle and benefited from it --- allow such a cultural shift from the time when education was widely viewed in our community as the way to a better life?"
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
I read many educational blogs and some of the papers they cite. Many people are looking for the answer to low achievement. No one has figured it out. I guess I have always been weird, in that I thought it was a good thing to be smart even when I suffered for it at the hands of my classmates. I was raised to have those beliefs.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Carlotta continues, "Many of the problems that we see today, such as single mothers, deadbeat fathers, and extreme poverty, are not new. They are as old as people. But there was a sense in my day that the fate of black people, poor or not, was collective. Thus, our standards were defined by the best among us, not the worst."
Carlotta describes her experiences in tense terms, chapter after chapter. At the end of the book she brings up the unspeakable; black parents no longer uniformly support all the children within their reach, they hold education in low regard. Carlotta said, "I didn't go to Central because I felt a strong desire to sit next to white people in class. I put my life on the line because I believed Central offered the best academic opportunities. I had hoped that the resulting interaction with people of another race would be a bonus, a great exchange of cultures and ideas. It is hurtful now when I hear that in many urban schools, where the student populations tend to be overwhelmingly black, it is not considered cool to be smart. . . . How did we -- particularly black men and women who endured the struggle and benefited from it --- allow such a cultural shift from the time when education was widely viewed in our community as the way to a better life?"
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
I read many educational blogs and some of the papers they cite. Many people are looking for the answer to low achievement. No one has figured it out. I guess I have always been weird, in that I thought it was a good thing to be smart even when I suffered for it at the hands of my classmates. I was raised to have those beliefs.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Carlotta continues, "Many of the problems that we see today, such as single mothers, deadbeat fathers, and extreme poverty, are not new. They are as old as people. But there was a sense in my day that the fate of black people, poor or not, was collective. Thus, our standards were defined by the best among us, not the worst."
September 30, 2009
It took an incredible amount of courage to be one of those nine children that walked into Little Rock Central High School on that fateful day in 1957. It took even more courage to rehash it all and write a book about it. I barely had the courage to read it all. I grew upset quite often, Carlotta's story brought up memories of my own school years. The name calling, the jeers, being slammed into lockers or kicked, having someone walk behind you stepping on your heels, the teachers that look the other way, and the students that even if they do not participate in the hateful acts themselves, cannot be seen showing you an ounce of kindness for fear of bringing it on themselves too.
That is where the similiarities end. Carlotta was persercuted simply because of her skin color. I had a handicap. Thankfully, I didn't need 1000 paratroopers from the 101st Airborne to get me inside my school. I am shocked and appalled at the ignorance of people back then. Carlotta tells of her desire to get the best education she could and at the time, "white" schools had the better funding, therefore they had the better books, the better equipment, the better opportunity. Carlotta did not realize that her desire for an education would make the news, lead to her home being bombed, and her own father arrested. She tells us about all that and the events leading up to it. She also talks about how sometimes she felt exploited, used even for publicity. Through her eyes, we see the turbulent 1950s and how ignorance ran rampant in Little Rock, Arkansas. In between excerpts about the high school and all the unfortunate dramas surrounding the high school, Carlotta talks about her life, her family, her summer camp, her trip to NYC, and her dreams. She shows us how she struggled to live a normal young girl's life despite her unwanted fame. Something I enjoyed about all this is how her community drew together in rough times to support her and the other students, to drive them to school, give them a meal, or just offer kindness.
As I was reading this tho, I had to set it aside here and there and just get my bearings and calm myself down. I can't believe this happened almost a mere 50 years ago. I think this should be required reading in schools, for all races. And for a good measure, send the book home for the parents to read too. Everybody will learn something from it.
That is where the similiarities end. Carlotta was persercuted simply because of her skin color. I had a handicap. Thankfully, I didn't need 1000 paratroopers from the 101st Airborne to get me inside my school. I am shocked and appalled at the ignorance of people back then. Carlotta tells of her desire to get the best education she could and at the time, "white" schools had the better funding, therefore they had the better books, the better equipment, the better opportunity. Carlotta did not realize that her desire for an education would make the news, lead to her home being bombed, and her own father arrested. She tells us about all that and the events leading up to it. She also talks about how sometimes she felt exploited, used even for publicity. Through her eyes, we see the turbulent 1950s and how ignorance ran rampant in Little Rock, Arkansas. In between excerpts about the high school and all the unfortunate dramas surrounding the high school, Carlotta talks about her life, her family, her summer camp, her trip to NYC, and her dreams. She shows us how she struggled to live a normal young girl's life despite her unwanted fame. Something I enjoyed about all this is how her community drew together in rough times to support her and the other students, to drive them to school, give them a meal, or just offer kindness.
As I was reading this tho, I had to set it aside here and there and just get my bearings and calm myself down. I can't believe this happened almost a mere 50 years ago. I think this should be required reading in schools, for all races. And for a good measure, send the book home for the parents to read too. Everybody will learn something from it.
June 15, 2015
This was such a wonderful book! And add it to the very short list of books that have made me cry.
This is the 2nd book I've read that was written by someone who attended Little Rock Central High- the other one was Warriors Don't Cry.
Her reason for going to Central High was because she wanted to go to one of the top high schools in the country, and not because of the history it would make. It was clear throughout the whole book that education was important to her and her family. Some of the events of the book were very familiar because of Warriors Don't Cry, but it was very interesting to see a different perspective of what it was like.
I can't even begin to imagine what it was really like for her. All the comments, insults, and other things that happened...I can read about it all I want, but it's just so hard to believe that she made it through to her graduation. If that isn't courage, perseverance, and willingness to complete her education, I don't what is. It's hard to believe that, like, 55 years ago, integrating schools was a huge thing. I know it happened and all, but it's not something I think about very often...if at all.
Most of all, this book is a good reminder of the past, that not too long ago, things were different but that things can change.
There were 2 things that really stuck out. One, she could have gone to college after her junior year in high school, and even got accepted to a university. But she made the decision to go back to Central High, because she had gone through so much just to graduate from there. And two, the fact that she did her best to put that time of her life behind her. I don't blame her at all, and remembering her high school years must have been hard. But it seems like she's made peace with it, and wants to make sure that people don't forget that things were once different.
I give it a 5 out of 5. It's a must-read.
This is the 2nd book I've read that was written by someone who attended Little Rock Central High- the other one was Warriors Don't Cry.
Her reason for going to Central High was because she wanted to go to one of the top high schools in the country, and not because of the history it would make. It was clear throughout the whole book that education was important to her and her family. Some of the events of the book were very familiar because of Warriors Don't Cry, but it was very interesting to see a different perspective of what it was like.
I can't even begin to imagine what it was really like for her. All the comments, insults, and other things that happened...I can read about it all I want, but it's just so hard to believe that she made it through to her graduation. If that isn't courage, perseverance, and willingness to complete her education, I don't what is. It's hard to believe that, like, 55 years ago, integrating schools was a huge thing. I know it happened and all, but it's not something I think about very often...if at all.
Most of all, this book is a good reminder of the past, that not too long ago, things were different but that things can change.
There were 2 things that really stuck out. One, she could have gone to college after her junior year in high school, and even got accepted to a university. But she made the decision to go back to Central High, because she had gone through so much just to graduate from there. And two, the fact that she did her best to put that time of her life behind her. I don't blame her at all, and remembering her high school years must have been hard. But it seems like she's made peace with it, and wants to make sure that people don't forget that things were once different.
I give it a 5 out of 5. It's a must-read.
August 29, 2009
Absolutely wonderful!
Carlotta Walls just wanted to get the best education she could. That the best local school happened to be Little Rock's Central High School, that she happened to be black, and that it happened to be 1957 didn't mean she wanted to make history. But, make history she did, as one of the famed Little Rock Nine.
This is Carlotta's story, told in her own words, including everything from the narratives of the generations before her right up to the present day. For a woman who avoided the spotlight, who for twenty years didn't even think to tell her friends and coworkers about needing a little help from the US military just to get to homeroom ... Carlotta certainly had a lot to say once she started writing. Her beautifully told story should show up soon on recommended reading lists across the internet, because I'm absolutely certain I'm not the only one to believe her story is a gift of great value.
Perhaps, if enough people were to grasp the lessons of our past, we could even see a day where no child anywhere is afraid to go to school because the local people don't want their children mixing with "her kind"--no matter what "her kind" might be.
I hope so.
Carlotta Walls just wanted to get the best education she could. That the best local school happened to be Little Rock's Central High School, that she happened to be black, and that it happened to be 1957 didn't mean she wanted to make history. But, make history she did, as one of the famed Little Rock Nine.
This is Carlotta's story, told in her own words, including everything from the narratives of the generations before her right up to the present day. For a woman who avoided the spotlight, who for twenty years didn't even think to tell her friends and coworkers about needing a little help from the US military just to get to homeroom ... Carlotta certainly had a lot to say once she started writing. Her beautifully told story should show up soon on recommended reading lists across the internet, because I'm absolutely certain I'm not the only one to believe her story is a gift of great value.
Perhaps, if enough people were to grasp the lessons of our past, we could even see a day where no child anywhere is afraid to go to school because the local people don't want their children mixing with "her kind"--no matter what "her kind" might be.
I hope so.
May 9, 2019
Since this book was published in 2009, it ends triumphantly with LaNier enjoying how far we have come since she and the other eight black high school students faced tremendous abuse in order to integrate a southern high school. I wonder how the book would end if she were writing it now. She would probably have to change the title because clearly we haven't come as far as most of us who experienced the Jim Crow South thought we had in November, 2008. Ms. Lanier's narrative of her journey is fascinating and inspiring. As happened in my Kentucky hometown, the first children to attend white schools in the fifties (I went in 1961) came from prominent families and/or were gifted in some way--academically, athletically. Ms. Lanier had all of those traits. She was a good student and athlete, but more important, her grandfathers owned businesses in Little Rock. It's probably because of their strong, supportive family members and the support of civil rights activists like their neighbor Mrs. Bates as well as Thurgood Marshall and even a young Martin Luther King that all of the Little Rock Nine survived their trauma with their minds/souls intact and have been successful adults.
September 1, 2023
Such a powerful, intimate look at not only a tumultuous time in U.S. history, but even the ordinary travails of a young woman--rendered completely extra-ordinary from her circumstances.
I knew the Little Rock Nine faced adversity from those outside the school walls, and I figured some inside, but I had no idea the extent of hatred levelled at them and their families from every quarter. The abuse they suffered daily that the National Guard could do nothing about (perhaps they might have, but at an even greater cost? Who can know.), from spitballs, intentional tripping, shoving, kicking at ankles until they bled on a daily basis... And the bombings in their town, at the author's home. Not to mention the incomes affected by their parents not being able to get work because of their association. It's horrifying that these events are from so recent a time (merely 50-60 years ago!) and that many of the perpetrators are still living, many of them still making laws and directing attitudes in their communities. It's very sobering, and a wealth of evidence that this is not just a "historical" event, but informs politics and communities to this day.
I knew the Little Rock Nine faced adversity from those outside the school walls, and I figured some inside, but I had no idea the extent of hatred levelled at them and their families from every quarter. The abuse they suffered daily that the National Guard could do nothing about (perhaps they might have, but at an even greater cost? Who can know.), from spitballs, intentional tripping, shoving, kicking at ankles until they bled on a daily basis... And the bombings in their town, at the author's home. Not to mention the incomes affected by their parents not being able to get work because of their association. It's horrifying that these events are from so recent a time (merely 50-60 years ago!) and that many of the perpetrators are still living, many of them still making laws and directing attitudes in their communities. It's very sobering, and a wealth of evidence that this is not just a "historical" event, but informs politics and communities to this day.
June 8, 2012
This memoir makes a powerful statement of the high price often paid by those who try to carry the human race forward to greater fairness and inclusiveness. Not many high school students would have been able to withstand the taunts and overt hostility of their classmates to the degree that Carlotta Walls faced when she was among the first African-American students to integrate a previously all-white Southern school in the 1950's. Furthermore, her account reveals that the time of continual insults, danger, and deliberately inflicted pain wasn't just a short-term hurdle to get over, but lasted throughout Carlotta's high school years. Ultimately segregationist resistance came to pose mortal danger not only to herself and the other black students, but to their families and friends. Much of the fear and anger was internalized and buried, only to resurface much later to be processed and healed. Carlotta's determination to continue at the school all the way to graduation required remarkable courage, and to read the story as only she can tell it is unforgettable.
December 16, 2013
A Mighty Long Way
Carlotta Walls Lanier
336 pages
Can you imagine being the first of many to walk into a school with your books in your hand, being spit on, and called bad names? You may think that would never happen, but it did to Carlotta Walls Lanier. She was the first to conquer segregation on her journey to justice at Little Rock Central High School in 1957. In this book, you will learn about what it feels like to be a little African-American girl entering the world of integration. Along Carlotta Walls Lanier’s “mighty long way,” you will think how hard she had to work to be who she is today. She was part of The Little Rock Nine. In fact she was the youngest.
If you want to go on a journey through America's past and struggles, you should read this book. With all of the facts, action, and excitement, you will not be able to put the book down. I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of ten, because it does have some adult ideas and concepts. If you haven’t read this book, you are missing out on a big part of American history.
Carlotta Walls Lanier
336 pages
Can you imagine being the first of many to walk into a school with your books in your hand, being spit on, and called bad names? You may think that would never happen, but it did to Carlotta Walls Lanier. She was the first to conquer segregation on her journey to justice at Little Rock Central High School in 1957. In this book, you will learn about what it feels like to be a little African-American girl entering the world of integration. Along Carlotta Walls Lanier’s “mighty long way,” you will think how hard she had to work to be who she is today. She was part of The Little Rock Nine. In fact she was the youngest.
If you want to go on a journey through America's past and struggles, you should read this book. With all of the facts, action, and excitement, you will not be able to put the book down. I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of ten, because it does have some adult ideas and concepts. If you haven’t read this book, you are missing out on a big part of American history.
February 28, 2011
This book was fascinating. I remember the news of the 9 black students who were the first to integrate Little Rock Central High School but I had never thought about what their experience would have been. Carlotta LaNier first described her growing up, a story which resonated with me despite the facts that my circumstances, as a Northern white girl in private schools, were totally different. I was surprised at the reasons Carlotta wanted to go to the white school. She wasn't trying to start a social movement or be a hero. She simply knew it was one of the best high schools in the state and education was important to her. She assumed that since the Supreme Court had ruled that schools must be integrated, it would simply happen. The account of the way those teenagers were treated that year is incredibly sad. It took Carlotta some 30 years before she could talk about it. The book is a very readable, very personal story of an historic event.
September 14, 2022
This book should be required reading for all. I had heard of the Little Rock Nine but didn't know enough about their story. We need to understand our history in order not to repeat it! I'm so proud of Mortar Board National Honor Society for inviting Ms. Walls LaNier to speak to our students at this year's National Conference. She is a remarkable woman who made a huge difference in advancing the cause of integration and racial equity.
July 8, 2020
Adding this to my “why wasn’t I taught this in history class?” list.
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