This is Your Time

To the young peacemakers of America,

Sixty years ago, in 1960, my life changed forever. Although I was not aware of it, our nation was changing too. What I remember about that time, through my six-year-old eyes, is that there was extreme unrest, much like we see today. I was chosen to be the first black child to go to an all-white school, William Frantz Elementary, in my hometown, New Orleans.

I did not yet know that I had stepped into the history books.

For my whole first-grade year I had to be escorted to and from school by four federal marshals, under the order of the president of the United States, because people were afraid for my safety.

It was a difficult decision for both of my parents to agree to let me go to school along with the marshals, especially for my dad, but they knew it was necessary. My father, like most dads, wanted nothing more than to protect his little girl. But as a young black man, it was not safe for him to walk me to school.