Fr. Frank Majka, SJ – The Bridge

Grace at Little Rock

A few days ago, in front of a crowd of several hundred in the Varsity theater at Marquette University, 6 people in their mid-60’s reminisced about walking through a crowd of people who hated them, verbally abused them, and tried their best to keep them from doing one thing: go to school. They were six of the people who, as teenagers, made up the Little Rock Nine, and they were receiving the Pere Marquette Discovery Medal at Marquette University (three were unable to attend).

Over the course of an hour, we in the audience listened to them tell about what motivated them (the desire for the education they knew they were legally entitled to), who opposed them (those who didn’t consider them human), and how they got through it all (their conviction, their families, and their friends). It was amazing courage they showed on that September day 50 years ago

But what I can hardly fathom is that they kept entering that school building every day for a whole year. A single act of courage is one thing, but a year of it, on a daily basis, is stunning, especially since the harassment and abuse continued inside the school.

As they spoke that day, it was clear that, in their minds, it all boiled down to something very simple: the story of integrating Little Rock Central high school was about nine kids claiming a right which the law said was theirs, demanding nothing more, but accepting nothing less. However, I think it was also the story of extraordinary grace given to them and, through them, to the country.