I was not sure what to expect going into Minnijean Brown’s lecture. Although I have read the excerpt from Warriors Don’t Cry, in which her personal narration vividly recreates the tumult experience of that historical episode, I feel that I know little of her as a person except the couple of days of her life, which have been enshrined in the nation’s history. Coming out of the lecture, I was impressed by her casual demeanor and conversational style of presentation. Despite her humorous way in presenting her points, the lecture provoked me to think about what social change means to her as well as to me.
She opened up the lecture by asking us to imagine ourselves as fifth graders, not only because fifth graders are cute and can say funny things without caring too much of what others think, but also for the sake of rewinding the socialization process we have been engaging in throughout our lives and unlearning the assumptions we have developed consciously or subconsciously. When talking to adults, Minnijean maintained, we are trying to change people’s mind. When talking to children, however, we are trying to help them to learn—not so much “what the world is like” but “how we are able to see the world for ourselves.” But being a fifth grader was not an easy task. It is a constant process and struggle to keep our assumptions in check and navigate the world with a critical and open mind.
Curiosity was another concept she brought up that tied neatly to the idea of being a fifth grader. The state of being curious urges us to pose questions and to interrogate history as well as the status quo. Minnijean Brown used the example of Thomas Jefferson’s view on slavery to enlighten us of prejudice embedded in the nation’s long history and its founding principles. By understanding where we come from, we are able to see a clearer picture of what we believe in and why we do so at present. While it took the oppressed prolonged struggles and a civil war to dismantle the institution of slavery, we are still grappling with the more subtle and engrained means of oppression in our society. The list of issues, Minnijean Brown pointed out to us when answering a student’s question of which contemporary issues she is concerned with, seem daunting. But it served the purpose of keeping us away from complacency, with so many unfinished tasks need to be accomplished. And only with a curious mind, we can start the journey.
To achieve social change involves the process of retrospection, but more importantly, it requires bold action. “We make the road by walking,” the poem of Antonio Machado Minnijean Brown cites, encapsulates the spirit of progress and fearlessness. None of the Little Rock Nine or any of the civil rights activists who fought the hard battle for justice and freedom had the ability to predict future. They walked in darkness without knowing if their work was going to give birth to a better future. They, however, were not deterred; nor did they give up facing all the adversities and frustration. They persisted by charting a terrain that had not been explored. One of the greatest figure in modern Chinese literature, Lu Xun (1881-1936), whose work has reflected upon a time of profound social change in China and in the world, has sent similar messages: “I thought: hope cannot be said to exist, nor can it be said not to exist. It is just like roads across the earth. For actually the earth had no roads to begin with, but when many men pass one way, a road is made.” This idea of making the road by walking transcends cultural boundaries and leads the change agents to work towards a more just and free world.
I was greatly inspired by the lessons Minnijean Brown gave at the lecture, in addition to her personal participation in one of the most iconic episodes of the Civil Rights Movement. Her life and continuous involvement in social work have showed us that we are far from arriving at an oppression-free (or post-racial) society. Much work is left to be done by us.
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