For International Women’s Day, I want to tell you about Barbara Johns.
What?!
You don’t know who she was?
April 23, 1951, in Farmville, VA, she led a walkout of her segregated high school to protest the unfair and deplorable conditions of her school.
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What?!
You don’t know who she was?
April 23, 1951, in Farmville, VA, she led a walkout of her segregated high school to protest the unfair and deplorable conditions of her school.
1/
After she and her classmates turned the rural town of Farmville upside down, she called in the NAACP.
The NAACP took their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Their case was combined with cases from other states.
history.com/topics/black-h…
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The NAACP took their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Their case was combined with cases from other states.
history.com/topics/black-h…
2/
The case was called Brown v. Board of Education the landmark case that ended segregation in America.
She led her walkout more than 4 years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus, and before MLK, Jr. embraced nonviolence as the way to equality.
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She led her walkout more than 4 years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus, and before MLK, Jr. embraced nonviolence as the way to equality.
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OK so, why wasn’t she given credit for her role as an early leader in the Modern Civil Rights movement and one of the first to use nonviolence as a means of achieving racial equality in the US?
👇argues that Barbara wasn’t given credit because she was a child.
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👇argues that Barbara wasn’t given credit because she was a child.
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I'll add that she wasn't recognized because she was a girl, poor, and black—what scholars call the “triple invisibility.”
After her strike, her life was threatened and her family home was burned down.
For years her family was afraid to talk about what she'd done.
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After her strike, her life was threatened and her family home was burned down.
For years her family was afraid to talk about what she'd done.
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I’m proud to be the author of the only book about Barbara Johns.
I had the honor of meeting her family members during a few research trips in Virginia and learning her story first hand.
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I had the honor of meeting her family members during a few research trips in Virginia and learning her story first hand.
5/
She died in 1991.
She became a school librarian because of her passion for bringing quality education to children.
If anyone asked her about what she'd done, she talked about it. But for most of her life, nobody asked.
She became a school librarian because of her passion for bringing quality education to children.
If anyone asked her about what she'd done, she talked about it. But for most of her life, nobody asked.
https://twitter.com/DirtScienceRx/status/1501225601125912577
Exactly. This is why I'm big on activism and down on pessimism, doomsaying, and cynicism.
The part I like about her story was that she looked around and basically said, "But this isn't fair."
The answer, "This is how things are," didn't stop her.
The part I like about her story was that she looked around and basically said, "But this isn't fair."
The answer, "This is how things are," didn't stop her.
https://twitter.com/dhopekzz/status/1501226155998859264
Adding: I never ask people to buy my books. Fortunately, this one is in most libraries.
Check it out. Support libraries in Barbara's honor.
If it isn't in your library, go to the desk and say, "What!? You don't have this book!" Maybe they'll order it.😉
Check it out. Support libraries in Barbara's honor.
If it isn't in your library, go to the desk and say, "What!? You don't have this book!" Maybe they'll order it.😉
https://twitter.com/Pennykimball11/status/1501227866339438600
When my book first came out, I put up a Barbara Johns Informational website because there was literally nothing about her on the Internet, but now you can find lots of stuff. Here's a brief bio: encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/barbar…
I totally should have done that. Visit the museum if you're in the area.
https://twitter.com/loafnw/status/1501284150208352263
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