Sir Isaac Newton, the 1600s physicist and mathematician, wrote to fellow scientist Robert Hooke saying, “Perched on the shoulders of giants…we are able to see more and farther ... And this is not at all because of the acuteness of our sight or the stature of our bodies, but because we are carried aloft and elevated by the magnitude” of those before us. Though Newton’s reference was to scientific inquiry, I could not help feel that we were in the presence of a “giant” in our own time as Colorado Academy this week hosted Carlotta Walls LaNier, a member of the Little Rock Nine.

 

LaNier was the youngest of nine African-American students who enrolled in a segregated high school after the United States Supreme Court ruled in Brown vs. Board of Education, declaring unconstitutional state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students.  Despite her youth, LaNier understood the impact and promise of education. Inspired by Rosa Parks and the desire to get the best education available, she graduated from Little Rock Central High School in 1960.  She attended Michigan State University for two years. In 1968, she graduated from Colorado State College (now the University of Northern Colorado) where she remains a trustee; she resides in Denver.

 

Deftly interviewed at our SPEAK event by Denver Post editor and CA parent Greg Moore, LaNier’s wisdom, grace, and remarkable resolve were revealed. About those who sought to physically harm her, bloody her heels by walking on them, taunt her in the school hallways, firebomb her house, or render her academic work invalid, LaNier said that she harbors no bitterness. “I was a mental fighter…it’s about how you embrace people,” she said.  By the time she graduated, LaNier said, “I gained a lot of respect from those same people” who protested her right to be at that school.

LaNier implored people today to not be among the group that stays quiet in the face of injustice. CA student Petal Niles said, “Because the day the Little Rock Nine first stepped onto the campus of Central High School to become students, they became teachers, teaching us lessons of courage, tenacity, and endurance. Today, the lessons of the Little Rock Nine live on as a reminder that transforming words like ‘freedom’ and ‘equality’ into real forces requires the conscious actions of people on the ground making day-to-day decisions on how they are going to respond to injustice or hatred, ultimately creating a world where opportunity is free to all.” 

 

And CA student April Edwards, presenting a gift to LaNier, thanked her for being a pioneer and for forging a path for those to follow in a country where access to a quality education is still no guarantee.

Special thanks to Carlotta Walls LaNier, Greg Moore, and CA students Paige Klump, Petal Niles, Rafael Reyes Orona, and April Edwards for an inspiring and memorable event.