“Social justice, rock on,” Central High School National Historic Site ranger Crystal Mercer yelled from the top steps of Central High School in Little Rock down below Saturday, Nov. 13 to the 1,800 Catholic teens and chaperones about to make a one-mile walk to the state Capitol to march for peace and justice.
The Catholic youth from Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma were gathered at the historic high school to put their faith in action and live out the theme of the Regional Catholic Youth Conference held for the first time in Arkansas.
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Earlier in the afternoon those teens were learning about social justice issues important to the Church, such as abortion, racism, poverty, hunger and the environment. They left the Statehouse Convention Center to experience the topics first hand.
Teens from Texas and Oklahoma visited Heifer Ranch in Perryville and Heifer Village in Little Rock to learn about poverty and hunger, Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock to erect 1,600 crosses and learn about abortion and Central High to listen to one of the Little Rock Nine explain the 1957 desegregation crisis.
Liz Tingquist, diocesan youth ministry director, said it was the first time that the Region X conference loaded participants up in more than 40 buses and shuttled them to other locations. Arkansas teens were asked to stay at the convention center and work with interactive exhibits from Catholic Relief Services, The Pines Catholic Camp and We Cry Justice, Tingquist said. She said Arkansans would have other opportunities to visit Central High or a Heifer program on their own.
At Mount St. Mary Academy 300 teens formed lines on the front lawn of the girls’ high school and pounded crosses into the ground. Four thousand white wooden crosses were on loan from the Benton County Right to Life Committee to represent the number of abortions that occur each day in the United States. Marianne Linane, diocesan respect life director, said about 1,600 crosses were erected and will be displayed for two weeks.
“It’s unique,” said Danielle Drastata, a member of Sts. Peter and Paul Church in New Braunfels, Texas, of the project. “It’s sad that there is that many (abortions) every day.”
Another 300 black, white, Hispanic and Asian teens were introduced to the history of the Central High School crisis. Those in the Central High auditorium got the rare opportunity to hear firsthand what happened on the first day of school in 1957 when the school was supposed to be integrated. Minnijean Brown Trickey stood on the stage where she was prevented from speaking or singing as a teenager and encouraged the Texas and Oklahoma teens to not put her on a pedestal. The teens in the auditorium were the same ages when Trickey and the eight others enrolled in the school.
“There was nothing special about us,” she said. “You must know that. Don’t ever think that we were any different than you. Because if you think there was something special about us, then you think you are less special and you are not.
“It was very interesting watching people scream obscenities and hate that first day of school. They threw away their dignity and it landed on us,” she said. “You are capable of dignity, perseverance and courage. … I urge you to honor what you possess.”
Brown was expelled from Central High in February 1958 for retaliating against repeated harassment. She moved to New York City where she graduated from high school. She returned to Little Rock in recent years after living in Canada.
Brown and the other black students experienced name calling, kicking and shoving. To those who see bullying going on in their school today, Brown said, “I never urge teenagers to confront the bully. But what I ask is that you say something to the victim. You have to say, ‘I saw that,’ because bullying says to the victim there is something wrong with you.”
After Trickey left the stage, she stayed in the school lobby for another 30 minutes to sign autographs and pose for photos with the teens.
“She is so strong,” senior Lionel Fombe from St. Andrew Church in Moore, Okla., said of Trickey.
“I knew about the story, but I didn’t know it was in Arkansas,” his twin brother Lionard Fombe said.
The brothers skipped playing in the football playoffs Nov. 12 for Westmoore High School to attend the conference.
“We missed the football game yesterday to come up here, and I am so happy I missed the game,” Lionard said.
Their youth minister, Dina Jones, known to the teens as “Mama D,” wiped away tears and said she remembers hearing stories from her grandparents and parents about racism and segregation.
“I think they (the teens) finally got it. I think the light bulb went off in their heads. I told them, ‘Listen, God wants you to be here for a reason. You four were chosen to come.’”
“For me, this all came to a head here. This is American history.”
The teens ended their afternoon at the State Capitol steps where they had a short prayer service. Conference speaker ValLimar Jansen challenged the 800 Arkansans present to be proud of their state.
“This place was where the eyes of the entire world were fixed on in September 1957. The entire world was looking to see if we as a country would live up to the creeds that we profess — justice and equality for all. And justice did triumph and the system of unequal education began to crumble to an end,” she said.
The mission of social justice resonated with the teens.
“What we’re sharing with Texas and Oklahoma with the social justice is what we’re working towards here in our state and the world. To show them where we’ve been and how we’re moving forward makes it unique to Little Rock and our state,” said Donna Adams, a chaperone from Immaculate Conception Church in Fort Smith. “The march for justice affected our kids so much. They talked to me a lot about that.”
One of the Texas teens had broken both his legs over the summer, which affects how he walks. His struggle over the weekend impacted the experience of those around him, especially during the march for justice.
“He didn’t want to stop,” said chaperone Pat Alaniz from Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Andrews, Texas. At the closing ceremony, “he didn’t want to stay behind — that’s encouragement for so many.”
Phyllis Hemann contributed to this story.
