Ruby Bridges and Rosa Parks: Kid-Centered Lessons on Resistance

Our road trip linked the past to the present in significant ways.

May 01, 2024

Our family embarked on a Family Civil Rights History Road Trip to Louisiana, Alabama and Georgia. Instead of cookie cutter lessons on civil rights, we discovered that connecting the dots between history and present day while making it applicable to our 9-year-old and 4-year-old is a powerful way to bring antiracist parenting lessons to life. While all across the world, students are making their voices heard for justice in Palestine, it’s even more important for parents committed to raising antiracist kids to teach our little ones how to be loud and bold changemakers in the face of oppression.

Our last article was centered on our visit to Whitney Plantation. Today, we’re delving into our stops in New Orleans, Louisiana and Montgomery, Alabama. Here’s what’s coming up in today’s article:

Bits of history
Kids’ Perspectives
Our 3 recommendations for this leg of our family visit

And we’ll be sharing books we’re reading as a family for kids and adults in our On Our Bookshelf section.

But FIRST!

Bring your family to spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon with us and Ben & Jerry’s at the Brooklyn Public Library for Spring Antiracist Family Day THIS weekend. RSVP here. And YES, there will be ice-cream (plus story-time, games, a sharing session for parents and more).

Okay, let’s get into it, shall we?

New Orleans, Louisiana

Ruby Bridges

First the history. In 1960, Ruby Bridges was 6 years old when she walked into William Frantz Elementary School and became the first African American child to integrate an all-white elementary school in the South. Though she had to be escorted into the building by U.S. Marshals amidst taunts and threats, Ruby’s powerful act made history. What many people don’t know is that Bridges was one of four girls selected to integrate both William Frantz Elementary School and McDonogh 19 Elementary School. The other girls were Leona Tate, Gail Etienne and Tessie Prevost. Another interesting note is that the school district created entrance tests for African American students to test whether they could compete academically with the white students. This gross little fact speaks to the belief that often persists to this day that Black students were assumed to be inferior to white students. The four girls successfully completed the school year, though “between January and May 1961, Bridges was the only student at William Frantz, since white parents refused to let their children attend”. It took another 10 years for the rest of the schools in Louisiana to fully integrate.

Ruby Bridges: Kids’ Perspective

It was an immensely proud parent moment for us when our son, upon visiting William Frantz Elementary School, made the connection between this historical landmark and Ruby Bridges Walk To School Day which his school participates in yearly. We cannot underscore the importance of schools being partners with parents as it pertains to teaching the history of race and racism in this country. Schools need to integrate these lessons in all aspects of learning and not just for specific months of the year. Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day is a great event that offers an entry point to the conversation on school segregation through a fun lens. Seeing our son connect the dots made us even more confident in our decision to be intentional about the school he attends. If you live in a school district where the lessons aren’t being taught in schools, you, as the parent, can supplement and guide these learnings. Either way, it’s important for kids to learn accurate and truthful history and see these lessons come alive around them. He also noticed that William Frantz Elementary and McDonogh No. 19 Elementary School look like his and other schools in our area. That brought history to the present day even more.

New Orleans also offers so much more history on antiracism: segregation and integration of streetcars that still run daily around the city; murals depicting people being sold into enslavement; and most importantly for our daughter who loves princesses, sites from the first (and still only) Disney movie with a Black main character princess, Princess and The Frog.

Montgomery, Alabama

The Rosa Parks Library and Museum: Children’s Wing

It remains our sincere hope that all civil rights expeditions get creative about integrating kid-centered experiences into the learnings the way the Rosa Parks Library and Museum is doing. As a refresher, on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat at the front of an Alabama bus to a white passenger during a time when Black people were forced to sit at the back of public buses. This action led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott that lasted for 13 months and ended with a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. The museum is located on the site of Park’s arrest.

The Rosa Park Museum: Kids’ Perspective

In the Rosa Parks Museum, there are two very unique experiences: a time traveling bus that is a virtual reality experience on the history of racism in Montgomery, and a really well done simulation of Rosa Parks’ courageous act, her arrest, and some artifacts from the boycott. These interactive exhibits run a few times each day and we made it just in time for the last one. The kids were able to sit in a replica of the bus Rosa Parks sat in. The story of her bold defiance was projected on the walls while the bus rocked back and forth to simulate a ride. The kids were riveted and paid attention the entire time. A simulated ride with a bit of education was a powerful combination that drove the lessons home for our kids.

We’ll pause there for today. Next time, we’ll chat about our other stops in Selma, and Montgomery, Alabama. We’ll share which sites we included the kids in and which Tabitha decided to experience on her own…and why.

Our 3 recommendations for this leg of the trip are:

Seek out books that can prepare your kids for the history they’re about to experience

This can mean heading to the library before you embark on a trip like this and asking the librarian for books that speak about the locations you’re about to visit. It can mean buying these books for your home library. Prepping your kids for the history lessons helps them make connections between books and real life.

Find kid-centered activities

Kids are kids and they are more likely to be engaged in activities designed for them like the Rosa Parks Library and Museum. Many places can be adaptable for kids and some are designed for kids. Finding a mix of both is ideal. You can also make it adaptable to kids by incorporating art and games like scavenger hunts.

In the absence of kid-centered activities, factor in playtime

In all of our stops, we tried to build in some time for local playgrounds, hotel pools, basketball hoops, etc. With a trip of this magnitude and depth, it’s important for kids to have time to just let loose and be kids. In fact, ditto that for us adults.

Ruby Bridges and Rosa Parks: Kid-Centered Lessons on Resistance

Our road trip linked the past to the present in significant ways.

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