Remembering Brown v. Board of Education

CNN.com Image

AMWS Compiled Reports, March 25. 2018, Topeka, KS -- Linda Carol Brown passed away in her longtime hometown. "Sixty-four years ago a young girl from Topeka brought a case that ended segregation in public schools in America," he tweeted. "

Linda Brown's life reminds us that sometimes the most unlikely people can have an incredible impact and that by serving our community we can truly change the world.  Linda grew up at Topeka’s St. Marks African Methodist Episcopal Church.  Her dad, The Reverend Oliver L. Brown (August 19, 1918 – June 1961) was the assistant pastor. Oliver L. Brown (August 19, 1918 – June 1961) was the "Brown" in the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education.

As a third grader, Linda had to walk six blocks to her school bus stop to ride to Monroe Elementary, her segregated black school one mile (1.6 km) away, while Sumner Elementary, a white school, was seven blocks from her house. 

In the landmark Brown v Board of Education, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, who, besides Brown, included Barbara Johns who was only 16 when she organized a student revolt at her badly-underfunded high school.  The Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, who, besides Brown, included Barbara Johns who was only 16 when she organized a student revolt at her badly-underfunded high school.

In 1950, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People asked a group of African-American parents that included Oliver Brown to attempt to enroll their children in all-white schools, with the expectation that they would be turned away. Oliver attempted to do so with Linda, who was in third grade at the time and barred from enrollment at Sumner Elementary. The strategy was for the civil rights group to file a lawsuit on behalf of the 13 families, who represented different states.

With Brown's name happening to alphabetically top the list of plaintiffs, the case would come to be known as Brown v. Board of Education and be taken to the Supreme Court. The lead attorney working on behalf of the plaintiffs was future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

This month, as youth throughout the United States and the world #MarchForOurLives, we recognize that protests have been an integral part of America’s society since its birth.  And yet, public schools in low income neighborhoods must still fight for money, resources and qualified staff; the Voting Rights Act is in jeopardy; “We The People” continue to be harassed and gunned-down in the streets of these United States; and, hatred is alive and well.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, in his last book asked America, what will we chose…   Chaos or Community?