Ruby Bridges

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.'

My family - my mother and father had gone through such a hard time that by the time I graduated from sixth grade, they were separated.

What we, as African Americans, stood on was our faith.

My mother had taught me that the only thing you could depend on was your faith, and I had that.

I pray for my enemies, that God would forgive them.

We as African Americans knew that if we wanted to see change, we had to step up to the plate and make that change ourselves. Not everyone comes to that realization in their lives, but thank God Linda Brown's father felt that way.

The greatest lesson I learned that year in Mrs. Henry's class was the lesson Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to teach us all: Never judge people by the color of their skin. God makes each of us unique in ways that go much deeper.