Minnijean Brown-Trickey (born September 11, 1941) is an American political figure who was a member of the Little Rock Nine, a group of nine African American teenagers who integrated Little Rock Central High School. The integration followed the Brown v. Board of Education decision which required public schools to be desegregated.

Early life

Minnijean Brown was born to Willie and Imogene Brown in Little Rock, Arkansas. Willie worked as an independent mason and a landscaping contractor while Imogene was a homemaker and a nurses aide. Minnijean was the eldest of four siblings.

Little Rock Nine

In September 1957, with the help of Daisy Bates, a prominent civil rights activist in Central Arkansas, Minnijean Brown set out to integrate Little Rock Central High School alongside eight other African American students. The students originally attempted to enter the school on September 4, 1957, but were stopped by the Arkansas National Guard called in by Governor Orval Faubus. In response, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent 1,200 U.S. paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division to assist the Little Rock Nine in entering the school. She was suspended from school for six days. Later, in February, a group of girls threw a purse filled with combination locks at Minnijean. She responded by calling the girls "white trash" and was immediately expelled. After her expulsion, students at Central passed a note around which stated, "One down, eight to go."

She became a public speaker, and has spoken in 49 states as well as several countries including Canada, England, and South Africa. The speaking event that Brown-Trickey values the most was speaking at an award ceremony for Malala Yousafzai.thumb|alt=Brown-Trickey with Congressman Vic Snyder.|Brown-Trickey with Congressman [[Vic Snyder.]]

Brown-Trickey has been the recipient of many awards including a Lifetime Achievement Tribute by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, the International Wolf Award, the Spingarn Medal, and an award from the W.E.B. DuBois Institute. and by Monica Calhoun in the 1993 Disney Channel movie The Ernest Green Story. A documentary film about Brown-Trickey entitled Journey to Little Rock: The Untold Story of Minnijean Brown Trickey (2002) was produced by North-East Pictures in Ottawa, where Brown-Trickey lived during the 1990s.

References

  • Minnijean Brown-Trickey speaker profile at The Lavin Agency
  • Little Rock Nine Foundation website