Research Paper On Melba Beals

Little rock, Arkansas 1957 in Warriors don’t cry by Melba Pattillo Beals, her and eight other African American, high school students integrates Central High School. Only eight of the nine that begin at Central High lasted for the full year. Melba and her eight friends face new wars every day. These are some of the traits she uses to survive her year and overcome her enemies at Central High School. Melba relies on her courage, faith, and not only her physical strength, but her mental strength as well.

There are a couple very well-known Deaf entertainers, who have proven to a great extent the success that deaf actors can achieve. Marlee Matlin is featured in a plethora of movies and television shows. The role most should know her for is Sarah Normon in Children of a Lesser God, which she won an Oscar for, becoming the first deaf actress to win an Academy Award (Hunter, 2013). She’s also been main characters in movies such as Where the Truth Lies (1999), Hear No Evil (1993), Bridge to Silence (1989), Askari (2001), and Sweet Nothing in my Ear (2008) (Film/Tv/Awards, 2014). Just a few of the television shows she’s been in are Switched at Birth, Law and Order: SVU, and The West Wing (Film/Tv/Awards, 2014). She has competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2008, becoming the first deaf person to compete, but not to win.

Lucille Ball was a beloved comedian/actress who opened and expanded opportunities for the profession of female comedians. Throughout Ball’s career, she was able to shape an industry allowing females to participate in a career of comedy that mostly males dominated. Lucille Ball is known as the First Lady of comedy. An influential person who has either a positive or negative effect on people is someone who grabs attention and who impacts people. Lucille Ball was certainly a positive influential person.

Josephine Baker is a well know African American because of her being an french resident agent. She also was entertainer and activist.

Ella Baker “Other mother” of civil rights activist born December 13, 1903 in Norfolk, Virginia. She was an advocate for African American civil rights and political organations after she fought her right the political process, and including the way party delegates were selected. Ella’s Beliefs were to make it equality for people of all race Then she died December 13 1986 on her birthday, but before Ella died she was awarded the coalition of 100 black women threw party in New York City in her honor. In 1984, the organization presented her with its Candace award for outstanding

At the time, Molly Hootch was 16 years old and Annao Tobeluk was 18. They we both from the village of “nanapitchuk”, with about 400 people population. Both of these girls sued Alaksa for; ”failing to provide local high-schools in predominantly Alaska native villages” Often high school natives lived in Oregon or California to attend a school but often they thought they were treated like slaves in their foster homes. When the ‘Tobeluck Consent Decree’ was signed, 105 native highschools were opened in Alaska.

Throughout Melba’s time of being a fifteen and sixteen year old she went through the struggles of having to deal with adversity. There were times where she was put down by her peers at her new school and even the people that she thought were her friends from her old school because she had chosen to be a part of the Little Rock Nine. Melba soon begins to learn that things were only going to get worse from there, but as she goes through each day she remembers what Grandma India tells her on the daily. Her promise to God that she’d push through even comes to mind during hard times. During the times of what should have been the greatest moments of her life were most likely her worst ones. Melba’s fortitude was tested by the malicious acts of many

At a young age, Melba Pattillo Beals, the author of Warriors Don’t Cry, learned the adversity of segregation while at a supposedly merry carousel. The man at the carousel denied her request to ride it because she was black. All because of that incident, Melba grew up a little and realized the difficult struggles her family and friends went through to do the simplest things. Beals characterizes herself as persistent, spiritual, and courageous as she faces hardships integrating Central High School, originally a segregated school.

In today’s generation, everything is more easily accessible through handheld devices. Information and messages could easily come across through social media. For one woman, her life was potentially saved all thanks to social media.

Nellie Bly is the nickname of the American investigative newspaper reporter, Elizabeth Jane Cochran. Elizabeth was renowned for her reportage of social justice issues and her willingness to undertake “daredevil” undercover investigations; which famously included getting herself committed to an insane asylum so she could report on the conditions there. Elizabeth is also renowned for her travel around the world in seventy-two days.

Melba Pattillo Beals wrote Warriors Don’t Cry. Melba Beals was one of the Little Rock nine who were the first colored students to attend an all white school. Very few people were in favor of this and treated them horribly. One example is, “The flaming wads of paper were coming at me faster and faster… I picked up my books and tossed one upward as hard as I could, in a blind aim to hit my attackers.” Melba has so much determination. It seems as though she is facing her death and yet she still has so much determination to survive and prove her peers wrong. She knows that in order to stay in school she is going to have to fight for it. “I discovered I had infinitely more guts than I had started the school year with. I had no choice. It was my life I was dickering for.” Sometimes the more you keep trying and the harder things become, the more determination you get. When times get hard you can’t give up. This point is where your determination grows so much that you don’t stop; you continue until you are satisfied. Melba continued to go to school even though her tormentors got worse and worse, but she didn’t let that make her sad and just quite there. This made her mad, which in turn made her determination stronger and eventually she made a difference and graduated high school.

They are persons in your life that when you meet them, you wish to be with them forever, and that's what I used to feel with my big friend Fabiola Lizeth Bonilla. She was a really proud Honduran girl. Proud of their food and culture and lived there for 17 years, then she moved to the United States of America and got in love with the country. Fabiola was an amazing person, she didn't like to see someone sad, and if I'm not wrong, her favorite hobby was to make all her friends happy.

I told myself I could handle whatever the segregationist had in store for me.” Warriors Don’t Cry,page 163. Melba showed determination and strength when faced with a trying situation, because she knew that the conditions would never improve if they complied. “‘My friends and I will leave school if we don’t get adequate protection. It’s simple as that.’ I told him. The others were obviously as angry as I was as they chimed in with their complaints. They voiced their agreement that something had to be done immediately.” Warriors Don’t Cry, page 171. The tenacity of the Little Rock Nine was wearing thin as the conditions worsened and no action was taken. They knew that they could only change what was being done to them by the power of their voices and not taking unprecedented actions.

Being one of the first black students in a white high school would not be an easy task, but Melba Patillo Beals was very strong in her faith. Everyday at school she experienced physical and mental abuse. Finally one day someone stood up for the nine students and set an example for Melba on how to have faith in tough situations. “ Tiny, erect, and determined, she stood there all alone between us and our attackers, demanding they leave us alone. One by one she challenged the leaders, calling them by name, telling them to get to class or there would be hell to pay. I had to respect her for what she did. Whether or not she favored integration, she

There are countless people in the world who have shown extremely strong values of persistence and hope, and learning about where these values come from can help us bring them out in ourselves. In the novel Warriors Don’t Cry, by Melba Pattillo Beals, Melba faces numerous hardships while attending Central High School. However, her motivation to continue attending despite the hardships come from multiple different sources. Melba is motivated by strong spiritual values and the belief that God is on her side. She is also motivated by her family and friends, including Grandma India, Mother Lois as well as Melba’s boyfriend Vince. Finally, she is driven because she knows that her actions are helping African-American society as a whole and that she is making a sacrifice for the greater good. It is important to understand Melba’s motivations because if she did not persist so well, integration may not have been possible.