Knowledge is power.
That’s a famous phrase. It means the more you know, the more control you have in the world. For much of history, people tried to keep that power from Black Americans. So Black activists fought for their right to learn.
Education is important. It helps people read signs, manage money, and make decisions. And it allows workers to get good jobs.
During slavery, enslaved people weren’t allowed to read or write. It was a crime to teach them. Some free Black people went to school, but their education wasn’t the same as white students’. Schools were . Black students got fewer resources, such as books and desks.
Black Americans still found ways to learn. In 1800, John Chavis was the first to go to college. He would have been the only Black student there. In 1837, the African Institute opened in Pennsylvania. That school was made to teach Black Americans. Today, it is Cheyney University, the oldest Historically Black College and University (HBCU). There are more than 100 HBCUs, including Howard University in Washington, D.C. Even now, most of their students are Black.
Harriet Jacobs learned without school. Jacobs was born into slavery in the 1800s in North Carolina. A kind mistress taught her to read. Later, Jacobs escaped slavery. She practiced writing — and told her own story. In 1861, Jacobs put out a book about her life. “My master had power and law,” Jacobs wrote. But “I had a will. There is in each.”
In 1954, there was a big court case. In it, the U.S. Supreme Court ended segregated schools. The case was called Brown v. Board of Education. Linda Brown was a third-grader in Topeka, Kansas. She wanted to go to Sumner School near her house. That school was for white students, though. Linda never attended Sumner, but her case helped other Black students.
Ending segregation wasn’t easy. Some schools didn’t want to allow Black students. In 1957, nine Black students went to Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. For weeks, protesters and the Arkansas National Guard kept them out. Finally, U.S. troops got the students to school.
Melba Beals was one of the Little Rock Nine. She remembers the struggle. “It was like going to war every morning,” Beals told News-O-Matic. But she had a reason to keep fighting. “I wanted a better education,” she said.
Three years later, Ruby Bridges made a similar walk. She was just 6 years old in 1960. She got into a school in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ruby was the only Black student. People protested as officials walked her into school. Still, Ruby didn’t miss a single day.
Barbara Krauthamer is a history expert. She told News-O-Matic that Black Americans have long “understood the power of education.” Black people had land, money, and rights taken from them. But “education can’t be taken away from you,” Krauthamer said. “So it has a real value.”
Updated January 31, 2023, 5:02 P.M. (ET)
By Ashley Morgan
