Carlotta Walls LaNier: Youngest of the Little Rock Nine

Do you remember your first day of high school? You undoubtedly agonized over your outfit, hair, who you would sit with at lunch, and wondered how you would ever measure up to the other kids. Carlotta Walls LaNier contended with all of those feelings and that was before she even left the house. Upon arriving at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, Carlotta was heckled, had racial insults hurled at her from every direction, and had to be protected by soldiers holding rifles. As the youngest of the “Little Rock Nine”, the memory and fear of that first day of high school will never go away.

In her new book, A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School, Carlotta chronicles her incredible story from her childhood in the Jim Crow south to her triumphant graduation day from a previously all white educational institution. Carlotta credits young black parents who instilled in her the belief that change is possible, for her desire to attend Little Rock Central when the Supreme Court ruled segregation unconstitutional. As the youngest of the Little Rock Nine, Carlotta volunteered at only 14 years old because she knew that Central was the best and “wouldn’t it be wonderful to put this school as my alma mater when I was applying for college,” she said.

Before Carlotta even stepped foot in the institution, she and her fellow black classmates were given a list of things they were not allowed to do at the white high school. Extra curricular activities and Honor Society memberships were strictly prohibited. Despite the restrictions and mounting tension surrounding the first day of school, Carlotta inherently believed that, “…people would follow the law.” Instead, Carlotta and her other black classmates were barred from the school for two weeks.

“I grew impatient,” Carlotta admitted, “…because I always knew that I’d have to be twice as good a white person in order to compete with them and that I could surpass any student I was up against.” Thurgood Marshall, a hero of Carlotta’s, finally helped end the standstill and the Little Rock Nine were finally admitted entrance into Central High School.

Carlotta Walls LaNier is an American hero and her story is one of bravery and the ultimate show of guts. Read her book and share her journey with anyone you know who needs a reality check. Life may be hard and the daily trials we endure are rough, but the freedoms we enjoy everyday were earned on the backs of women like Carlotta. She still bears those emotional and physical scars so that we don’t have to. Let’s get grateful for what we DO have and continue to fight for the kind of equality that Carlotta believed in over fifty years ago.