When the Schools Shut Down

Question 1

The country’s cars, clothes, land and even laws reflected old ideas - some were classic, and others were simply cold.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 2

Yet, in that same year, on May 5, 1954, the US Supreme Court unanimously decided that separating children in public schools based on their color of skin was no longer legally allowed.

Answer 2

When the Schools Shut Down

Question 3

They called it the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka decision.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 4

The world seemed to be changing.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 5

She was born with beautiful brown skin and a crown of oily deep brown hair.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 6

They had their own business to mind, like collecting firewood, setting the table for dinner, and making up fun games to play between chores.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 7

They’d talk about everything under the sun: recipes, religion, right and wrong.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 8

There was talk of love and new laws.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 9

Proud.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 10

You count

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 11

every voice

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 12

today is now

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 13

The most important lessons came on Sunday mornings at First Baptist Church.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 14

These same stories demonstrated power, resilience, faith and love.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 15

She would sit, wedged between her mother and siblings, listening to the tales of David and Goliath, Moses, Jonah, and Jesus Christ.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 16

When he mama was in school, the classrooms were cold enough to make one’s teeth chatter; books were used, tattered, and torn; and school buses ran late or not at all.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 17

The refused to attend classes until their voices were heard and their learning materials improved.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 18

Some people saw boycotts as nothing more than making mischief, but the students knew boycotting was necessary to make change.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 19

Don’t Buy Jim Crow

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 20

Don’t buy segregation

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 21

We’d rather line up for school

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 22

Hi We !! Want a new school!! Strike

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 23

Change can be speedy, or steady, or incredibly slow.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 24

The new integration law was supposed to be a step in the right direction.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 25

But by the time the first official day of class rolled around, everything had changed in Prince Edward County.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 26

And to make sure they got their way, they shut down each of the public schools in Prince Edward County one by one.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 27

And just because a law exists doesn’t mean everyone will follow it.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 28

In reaction to the school closing, some people hit the pavement to protest.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 29

Line up for education

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Question 30

Why Five?

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Question 31

We demand our education

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Question 32

Five years why?

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Question 33

Others hit the books.

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Question 34

Black parents, teachers, and community city members across the country railed together and started their own education system - they started schools and learning centers just for them.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 35

Education was their right, and absolutely no one could keep them from learning, knowing, and growing.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 36

She was one of about twenty students from age five to eleven.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 37

The students worked with the few materials they had - some borrowed and others barely functional.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 38

The schools in Prince Edward County were completely closed for five full years, but each school day, classes were under way at the community-created Black schools.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 39

The Supreme Court ruled the school shutdown unconstitutional and demanded that all schools be reopened to all students.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 40

In the new classes at the Prince Edward school, Black and white students were able to learn the same material in the same classrooms at the same time.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 41

And she still stands with head high, shoulders back, spine straight. Proud.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 42

A child who only learns at school is an uneducated child.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 43

She understood early on that in life, no one bothers a bare tree.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 44

It is a right owed to us all.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 45

Based on that belief, she made the wise decision to take the gift of a good education seriously and to become a lifelong reader and writer.

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Question 46

It was their big breakthrough.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 47

But I come from a proud, resourceful, and creative people.

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Question 48

We weren’t all lost, and we didn’t accept injustice lying down.

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When the Schools Shut Down

Question 49

I hope it sheds light on a hidden history and that it encourages us to still march forward toward change.

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When the Schools Shut Down