I would dream that this coffin had wings, and it would fly around my bed at night, and so it was a dream that happened a lot, and that's what frightened me.
Evil looks like you and I. I know what evil looks like, and I know that it comes in all shades and colors.
We all have a common enemy, and it is evil.
We may not all be equally guilty. But we are all equally responsible for building a decent and just society.
The people I passed every morning as I walked up the school's steps were full of hate. They were white, but so was my teacher, who couldn't have been more different from them. She was one of the most loving people I had ever known.
Racism is a grown-up disease, and we should stop using our kids to spread it.
Schools should be diverse if we are to get past racial differences.
I remember the first time seeing myself on TV, when my family was watching the documentary 'Eyes on the Prize' for the first time. There were pictures of people going up the school stairs, and Mom said, 'Oh, that's you!' I said, 'I can't believe this. This is important.'
Kids really don't care about what their friends look like.
I was the first black child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana in 1960.
There are all kinds of monuments to adults - usually dead and usually white. But we don't often lift up the extraordinary work of children.
I remember what it was like at age 6, not really understanding what was going on around me, but having all these grown-up thoughts running through my head about what I was facing, why this was happening.
Racism is a form of hate. We pass it on to our young people. When we do that, we are robbing children of their innocence.
As African-Americans, people of that generation felt pretty much if they were going to see changes in the world, they had to make sacrifices and step up to the plate. I'm very proud that my parents happened to be people who did. They were not privileged to have a formal education.
Kids come into the world with clean hearts, fresh starts.
I had never seen a white teacher before, but Mrs. Henry was the nicest teacher I ever had.
I remember turning onto the street. I saw barricades and police officers and, just, people everywhere. When I saw all of that, I immediately thought that it was Mardi Gras. I had no idea that they were here to keep me out of the school.
Now that I'm a parent, I know that my parents were incredibly brave.
I want to inspire kids.
Once my school was integrated, and I was there with white kids and a few black kids, it really didn't matter to us what we looked like.
