Minnijean Brown-Trickey | |
|---|---|
 Brown-Trickey speaking at the Harvard Graduate School of Education on February 9, 2018 | |
| Deputy Assistant Secretary of theDepartment of the Interior For Workforce Diversity | |
| In office 1999–2001 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1941-09-11)September 11, 1941 (age 84) Rogers, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Residence | Canada |
| Alma mater | Laurentian University |
| Occupation | Civil rights activist |
| Awards include theCongressional Gold Medal andSpingarn Medal | |
Minnijean Brown-Trickey (born September 11, 1941)[1] is an American political figure who was a member of theLittle Rock Nine, a group of nineAfrican American teenagers who integratedLittle Rock Central High School. The integration followed theBrown v. Board of Education decision which required public schools to bedesegregated.[2]
Minnijean Brown was born to Willie and Imogene Brown inLittle 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.[1] She began her high school career in 1956 atHorace Mann, an all-black school located in Little Rock, AR. She later transferred to Little Rock Central High School in 1957 following the Brown v. Board of Education decision. She was expelled from Central and finished her high school education inNew York at theNew Lincoln School inManhattan.[3]
In September 1957, with the help ofDaisy Bates, a prominentcivil 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 theArkansas National Guard called in byGovernor Orval Faubus.[4] In response,President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent 1,200 U.S.paratroopers from the101st Airborne Division to assist the Little Rock Nine in entering the school.[3] On September 25, 1957, Brown along with the other eight students desegregated Little Rock Central High School.[4]
Despite the troops being stationed at the high school throughout the '57-'58 school year, the nine students were physically and verbally harassed by their classmates.[3] Brown was the first suspended out of the Little Rock Nine and she was the only one to be expelled.[1] Her suspension was the result of an incident which took place on December 17, 1957. While walking through the crowded cafeteria during lunch, Brown-Trickey was harassed and ended up dropping her lunch tray and spilling chili on two male students.[5] She was suspended from school for six days.[5] Following her suspension, Minnijean came back to school and a white student spilled soup on her. He was only suspended for two days.[6] 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.[7] After her expulsion, students at Central passed a note around which stated, "One down, eight to go."[7]
Following the incident, Brown moved to New York and lived withDrs. Kenneth B. and Mamie Clark. The Clarks were African American psychologists who helped with the argument presented by theNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in the Brown v. Board of Education case.[1]
Brown attended the New Lincoln School in Manhattan for 11th and 12th grade.[3]
Brown attendedSouthern Illinois University where she majored injournalism.[1][3] In 1967, Brown married Roy Trickey. The couple had six children before divorcing in the 1980s.[1] One of her daughters, Spirit Trickey, worked for theLittle Rock Central High School National Historic Site in Little Rock for 10 years.[8] She lived in Canada for a number of years in the 1980s and 1990s, where she studied social work atLaurentian University inSudbury,Ontario, and later completing a Master of Social Work degree atCarleton University inOttawa, Ontario.[1][3] She moved back to America and worked for theClinton Administration in 1999 through 2001 as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Workforce Diversity at theDepartment of the Interior.[3][9]
She became a public speaker, and has spoken in 49 states as well as several countries includingCanada,England, andSouth Africa.[10] The speaking event that Brown-Trickey values the most was speaking at an award ceremony forMalala Yousafzai.[3][11][8]
Brown-Trickey has been the recipient of many awards including a Lifetime Achievement Tribute by theCanadian Race Relations Foundation, theInternational Wolf Award, theSpingarn Medal, and an award from theW.E.B. DuBois Institute.[1][11] Under the Clinton administration, Brown-Trickey received theCongressional Gold Medal in 1999 alongside the other members of the Little Rock Nine.[1][9]
Brown-Trickey has been depicted in twomade-for-television movies about the Little Rock Nine. She was portrayed byRegina Taylor in the 1981CBS movieCrisis at Central High,[12] and byMonica Calhoun in the 1993Disney Channel movieThe Ernest Green Story.[13] A documentary film about Brown-Trickey entitledJourney to Little Rock: The Untold Story of Minnijean Brown Trickey (2002) was produced by North-East Pictures inOttawa, where Brown-Trickey lived during the 1990s.
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