There are many names quickly recognized in the battle for civil rights: Martin Luther King Jr., Ruby Bridges, and Rosa Parks – but another you should learn of is Barbara Johns, a sixteen-year-old African American from Farmville, Virginia, who, in 1951, organized and launched a school strike demanding a public high school equal to the one for white students. She and her classmates walked out because they wanted a better education, an equal education, leading to better opportunities. At the time, Barbara didn’t know if her actions would achieve what she wanted. She certainly had no idea she was starting a thirteen-year fight for equality in public education that would involve the entire country. She never would’ve imagined that her school strike would help change American history. She was just doing what she believed was right. The fight for true equality in not just education, but in many aspects of American life continues. Young people, black and white, do not know the extent of the history of racism in our country and schools are now facing challenges to the content of history education. She Stepped Up: Barbara Johns Starts the Fight for Equality in Education tells the story of Barbara Johns, another name to recognize in our battle for civil rights in the US.

About the Author

Rebecca Keese is a retired elementary and upper elementary school librarian and reading specialist in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was difficult to find African American history for challenged readers and for library shelves that spoke to and about young people. A visit to the Moton Museum in Farmville, Virginia spurred her to write an approachable biography, including all the features of expository text, about a young person who spoke up for what she believed was right.

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