A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School,   ISBN:9780345511003

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Although I knew of the Little Rock Nine, I really didn't know much about the details, in fact I had thought that the National Guard was called in to escort them into the school and was shocked to learn that the governor, who was a segregationist actually called the National Guard to keep them out. It took President Eisenhower to become involved and send the 101st Airborne to escort these bright young students to their school and protect them through the day.

I became very engrossed with Carlotta Wall's story. It is told candidly and honestly and her descriptions are not just of the torment that she received while trying to make a better academic choice but of her life and her family. You feel for her and her family. When she started this journey it was simple enough, just a form to sign if she wanted to go to Central High, a school she passed and that was one of the premier schools not only in Arkansas but in the Nation. She was a hard working student and came from a family of honest, hard working people with good values and principles. She prized education and never knew that the signing of the slip that day would change not only her, but her family, friends and the course of the civil rights movement.

The story makes you feel....you feel angry, upset, incredulous, a wide array of emotions.

You understand Carlotta, because she is just like any other student that you come in contact with that is serious about learning. She worries through school closures, correspondence courses, and keeping up. She is trying her mightiest to stay on track and focused through a maze of abuse and torment. She is kept away from doing any of the normal high school things like prom, football games, etc.

Though I don't generally read a lot of non-fiction I somehow could not put down this book. What a courageous, inspiring, brave woman Carlotta Walls is.

If you want a story about determination, beating the odds and how one person's journey can make a difference, this book may be for you. I found it absolutely riveting.

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I was quite surprised at how well written this book was; the writing is compelling and emotional, a feat that is often hard to accomplish in historical writing. Overall, an inspiring read. 4 stars.

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I read several of the Little Rock Nine memoirs in the past, but the most recent on the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas by Carlotta Walls Lanier, A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School, was like looking into the history of these events for the first time. Part memoir, part historical and social commentary, the youngest of the nine at 14 years-old, Walls Lanier was forever changed by the events that occurred in 1957. Raised in a loving, middle-class home, she was supported by her extended family, church and community in her quest for unconditional educational. But she was so traumatized by the ordeal that it took 30 years to come to grips of it all.

Walls Lanier left Little Rock in 1960 and moved to Denver, Colorado, as did her immediate family after the bombing of her home. She was a bright, ambitious, intelligent young lady, who just wanted access to the best education possible to secure the future she felt she deserved, yet there were thousands of people who tried to take that basic right away from her. And why? Because they were threatened by the color of her skin and threatened that their way of life as they knew it would be changed. Arkansas' Governor Faubus was determined to keep the six girls and three boys from entering Central High by calling out the National Guard. Angry white parents taunted, threw things, berated these youngsters, their faces full of hate. But Daisy Bates, a journalist and activist who was born in my mother's hometown of Huttig, was unafraid of standing up to the white establishment that dared violate these young people's rights to an education as mandated by the 1954 Brown vs. the Board of Education ruling. She sheperded these young people into the history books and in the path of danger.

These children, because that is what the Little Rock nine were, endured physical and mental abuse at the hands of their white peers; with little support from the teachers and administration. The following school year, rather than integrate, whites managed to close all of the high schools, causing students to scramble for alternatives for their education. Walls Lanier use correspondence school and went out-of-state for awhile to attend high school. All because the fears of the white citizens of Little Rock were based on some archaic, distorted notion of the mixing of the races.

This past summer I visited Little Rock, along with my mother, sister and niece as part of our family reunion in the southern part of Arkansas. It is a much different city then it was in 1957. You would never have known this was formerly a Jim Crow city. We spent a lot of the time visiting and reliving the history of that city. We visited Central High and the majestic school's architecture is amazing. Lanier Walls gives the history of how this school came to be built and why she so wanted to attend. Earlier this year, monuments were erected to the Little Rock nine on the Capitol grounds.

I recommend this book to students of the Civil Rights movement and also to young people to make them aware of the sacrifices made by African-American children and adults whose values for education were high priority after God and family.

This advanced reading copy was provided courtesy of the Vine program through Amazon.com.

Dera R. Williams
APOOO BookClub

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A Mighty Long Way is an emotional book written by one of the courageous individuals who fought against the tide of integration and helped move her community closer to equality. Carlotta Walls was a member of the now famous Little Rock Nine- a group of black students selected to help integrate Little Rock Central High School in 1957, just a couple of years after the landmark Supreme Court decision that ended segregation in U.S. schools.

Walls became the first female black student to graduate from Little Rock Central and she relives her ordeal in the pages of this book. She endured endless name- calling, degrading taunts and acts, threatening phone calls, and even a direct attack on her family's home as she studied at Little Rock Central high school and fought for her right to a solid education. Her plight, and that of the other students, made national news and this book discusses the many encounters with police, the necessary enforcement from federal troops, the acts of violence against the nine students and their families, and the ongoing trauma and fear that marked each day as these young students tried to integrate and earn a decent education.

Many people likely remember this moment in history or recall it from their history lessons in high school or college. I wasn't alive at this time, and I realize that these days of forced integration are long behind us, but it is still shocking to read about this shameful part of the American past. All that Carlotta Walls and the others wanted was an education. It would have been nice to fit in and make friends, but an edcuation and normal high school experience was all they really wanted. They knew that Little Rock Central was a renowned school and they wanted the best education possible. But the angry citizens of Little Rock did not want their school overrun by these people of a different race. They wanted segregation to live on, and many adults formed pressure groups, organized boycotts, and otherwise tried to coerce state and local governments to return to the segregationist way of life.

A Mighty Long Way is certainly an inspirational story and I particularly like the determination on the part of Walls to graduate from Little Rock Central high school. She faced enemies everywhere she went and never knew what to expect from day to day. At one point, her home was directly attacked and dynamite was planted and exploded. This would have convinced many students and parents to give up the fight, but Walls and her family would not think of it. They held tough and Carlotta vowed to continue to the very end. Walls never gave up or gave in, and she pressed forward with her studies in spite of tremendous pressure from the local community and beyond.

A Mighty Long Way is written in first person and in many ways, it reads like an individual's personal diary. Walls does talk a little about her colleagues and expresses her admiration toward the group as a whole. But for the most part, the book focuses on Walls herself. And while her time spent at Little Rock Central high school receives the bulk of the book's coverage, there are a few chapters devoted to her time in college as well as her time in the spotlight as a grown woman, giving speeches and attending events to honor her and the other members of the Little Rock Nine. Walls struggled to come to terms with her past, but a personal breakthrough occurs when she realizes the educational value of her experience and decides to share it with others.

Integration of our public schools is long behind us now, but the experience was difficult and the struggle was intense for Walls and others who fought for the integration of Little Rock Central high school back in the 1950's. Carlotta Walls LaNier is a testament to those who persevere and her story will amaze and inspire.

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Excellent look at an American History Event. Hopefully Americans are growing and learning from the negative experiences of the past and won't repeat such mistakes nor atrocities in our future as we all try to move forward together.