Ruby Bridges Walks to School

Ruby Bridges was six years old, and she had new shoes.

In New Orleans, where Ruby lived, there was an unfair rule: Black children and white children were not allowed to go to the same schools. Ruby's parents thought that rule was wrong. So one morning in November, Ruby set off to a school where no Black child had been before.

Outside the school there was a crowd of people shouting unkind things. Four tall men walked beside Ruby so she would be safe. Ruby held her mother's hand and looked straight ahead and kept walking, small and neat in her new shoes.

Inside, something strange had happened. Most families had kept their children home. So Ruby walked into a classroom with a teacher named Mrs Henry — and nobody else at all.

For a whole year, Mrs Henry taught Ruby by herself. Just the two of them, reading and counting in a quiet empty room. Ruby never missed a single day.

And slowly, other children came back. Then more. Until the classroom was full and noisy and ordinary, the way a classroom should be.

Ruby was six. She did not make a speech. She just kept walking to school.

Sometimes that is the bravest thing there is.

Sleep well, brave one.