LaKenya Simpson's winning essay

Every February, we are encouraged to pay tribute to the African Americans who paved the way for our liberal lifestyle. We often emphasize the significance of the accomplishments made by those such as Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King Jr., but we rarely focus on the strength displayed by African American youth.

The Little Rock Nine personified exemplary courage and spirit in an era when African Americans were stricken with fear and intimidation. Their story provides inspiration to young African Americans, like me, today. I will personify similar courage and spirit in my life by learning, loving and persevering.

According to Horace Mann, a renowned education reformer and abolitionist, "Education is the great equalizer among men. It does more than rob the poor of their hostility toward the rich, but it prevents them from being poor." Whether the members of the Little Rock Nine were familiar with this quote is unknown, but it is clear that they realized the power embedded in knowledge. They fought for something that young people today take for granted. As I grow older, I realize the value of my education. I consider the members of the Little Rock Nine sagacious beyond their years because they recognized the power of an education. They grasped how far a good education would carry them and struggled to secure that advantage. People as such motivate me to learn as much as I can for as long as I can. I will retain the knowledge I gain from my college professors, my coaches, and from wise elders. I will make it a point to take advantage of every learning opportunity that arises.

On one particular Sunday at church, my pastor asked what the definition of “love" was. After the members of the congregation had briefly deliberated, my pastor began to enlighten us on the true meaning of this often misinterpreted word. He said "love" is an action. He began to explain to us that instead of God merely telling us that he loved us, he showed us. He said that if we truly wanted to know how to Iove we should look at God. We were instructed to turn in our bibles to the book of John, chapter four and verse three. It states, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son . . . " As I reflected on this scripture, I realized that my pastor was correct. Not only does God love us with his very best, but he loves us even when we do not deserve to be loved.

Although we can never love the way that God loves, we should constantly try. Even if the people we love do not love us in return. The Little Rock Nine exemplified love by showing their very best manners and respect to those who tried to break them. They responded to discrimination and harassment with dignified smiles, and polite "yes sirs" and "no ma'am's."

In honor of the courage and spirit portrayed by the Little Rock Nine, I will strive to love those who may mistreat me. Ultimately, I will strive to love as God loves. According to the New King James version of the Bible, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." The Little Rock Nine had never seen any blacks going to an all-white school, so discrimination further fueled their desire to not only be the first, but to succeed as well.

Even though African Americans had finally been granted the right to attend "white" schools by law, most whites were adamant about showing that they did not want African Americans in "their" schools. One of the members of the Little Rock Nine was severely beaten. One of the female members even had mace sprayed in her face—threatening blindness for the remainder of her life. Although all odds were against them, their perseverance and faith sustained them causing a monumental change in society. It is people like the members of the Little Rock Nine that I look to for inspiration when I feel like giving up.

They persevered through public ridicule and violence even when prosperity and success looked impossible. Although it was nearly half a century ago when the Little Rock Nine ascertained unprecedented results, the same drastic changes can be achieved today, in the twenty-first century, if we would apply the same courage and spirit as they did. I will make it my personal mission to break all barriers, overcome all obstacles, and win every battle that may cross my path. Much like the Little Rock Nine, I will not take "no" for an answer.