“Don’t follow the path. Go where there is no path and begin the trail. When you start a new trail equipped with courage, strength and conviction, the only thing that can stop you is you.”
- Ruby Bridges
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LESSONS ON RUBY’S BRAVERY
Ruby Bridges changed the nation by becoming the first African-American student to integrate an elementary school in the South.
Her courageous actions led to a ripple effect of desegregated schools across the country. However, a Florida school temporarily banned the film “Ruby Bridges” about her story – erasing the value of bravery in schools.
What other stories are we at risk of losing if these bans continue?
Yuri Kochiyama, who often stood side by side with Malcolm X, was a fearless champion for civil rights and social justice after being interned in a Japanese-American camp during WWII.
Crazy Horse bravely fought to defend his people’s land from European settlers in the late 19th century.
Author Joseph Bruchac’s book Crazy Horse’s Vision was banned from Florida schools in 2022.
Rosa Parks’s brave act of refusing to give up her seat helped spur civil rights movements.
A children’s picture book about her story, I Am Rosa Parks by Brad Meltzer, was banned from Pennsylvania classrooms in 2021.