During my junior year of high school myself a several of my peers were pulled into the auditorium for a presentation. We were probably just happy to get out of class but the presentation itself was a two-fold opportunity.

Sojourn to the Past, an organization which mission is to educate students on the Civil Rights Movement, took a group of students from my high school and several others around the Bay Area to the south to follow the trail of the Civil Rights Movement. The trip opened my eyes to a lot of thing. It was a humbling experience (even though I was sleep deprived for the half the trip) that taught me more than I could ever learned in the classroom.

This week marked the 50th anniversary the Little Rock Nine’s integration into the all white Central High, and was met with a wave of protests upon their entry. On the trip, I met a few of the Little Rock Nine. We met, Minnijean Brown Trickey, who if you met her without knowing her past would not think a person with such a bubbly personality had experienced such hardship.

But the one woman who does stand out specifically from the trip is Elizabeth Eckford. Our group met her in the auditorium of Central High. Before she made her appearance it was requested that we do not clap, yell, or anything. The Little Rock Nine experience had shaken her to deeply any outbursts made her feel horribly uncomfortable – can’t say I blame her.

Eckford had the unfortunate experience of walking all the way to Central High as a crowd of people followed her, yelled, and taunted her.

Four years since seeing her in Little Rock and even 50 years later Eckford still holds firm to her belief that if she were given the chance to go to Central High again on that fateful day she would not.

I always hear the saying everything heals over time. But in Eckford’s case, some things are just too painful to heal.
—Eming Piansay