Minnijean Brown-Trickey (born September 11, 1941) was one of a group of African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 teenagers known as the "Little Rock Nine

Little Rock Nine

The Little Rock Nine was a group of African-American students who were enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The ensuing Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, and then...

." On September 25, 1957, under the gaze of 1,200 armed soldiers and a worldwide audience, Minnijean Brown-Trickey faced down an angry mob and helped to desegregate

Desegregation

Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...

 Central High.

She was suspended in December 1957 for dumping her bowl of chili on a white boy who blocked her way in the cafeteria, and expelled in February, for calling a girl “white trash” after the girl taunted her and hit her with a purse.

In her adult life, Brown-Trickey continues to be an activist for minority rights. She lived in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 for a number of years in the 1980s and 1990s, getting involved in First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 activism and studying social work at Laurentian University

Laurentian University

Laurentian University , was incorporated on March 28, 1960, is a mid-sized bilingual university in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada....

 in Sudbury, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

. She has received the Congressional Gold Medal, the Wolf Award, the Spingarn Medal

Spingarn Medal

The Spingarn Medal is awarded annually by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for outstanding achievement by an African American....

, and many other citations and awards. Under the Clinton administration, she was appointed by President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

 to serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior responsible for diversity.

A documentary film about Brown-Trickey entitled Journey to Little Rock: The Untold Story of Minnijean Brown Trickey (2002) was produced by North-East Pictures in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, where Brown-Trickey lived during the 1990s. In 2007, Laurentian also honored Trickey with an honorary doctorate of laws.

Brown-Trickey has moved back to Little Rock, and resides there with her mother and sister. Her daughter Spirit Trickey also resides in Little Rock, and is employed at Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, where she interprets her mother's, and the other eight students' struggle to enter Central.

External links

• Minnijean Brown-Trickey speaker profile at The Lavin Agency
  The Lavin Agency
  The Lavin Agency is a North American speakers bureau with offices in Boston, Toronto and Vancouver. The company was founded by David Lavin in the late 1980s.The Lavin Agency represents speakers in the fields of business, politics, arts and science.-History:...