Warriors Don't Cry

Melba describes the other members of the Little Rock Nine in Chapter 3. Aside from their willingness to enter Central, what did these students have in common?

What important role in Melba’s life did her diary play in 1957-58? What role did it play in 1994 when she wrote Warriors Don’t Cry?

How did the nine find ways to support and strengthen one another even though they were intentionally separated from one another’s classes?

What did Mrs. C. Bates and other NAACP leaders do to counter the hardships the nine experienced in integrating Central?

Virgil Blossom, the superintendent, wanted the nine to remain quiet about the abuse they received, saying he did not want to provoke more violence and unrest. Why did the Black community leaders also ask the nine to downplay the abuse they received?

What motivated Link to act so differently than his segregationist friends and his father? How did Link feel toward Melba?

What measures did the school district take to protect the Little Rock Nine from harassment, abuse, and bodily injury? Were there decisions made by administrators that actually increased the danger Black students faced?

Melba points out that all but one of the Little Rock Nine relocated away from Arkansas as adults. What might have compelled them to leave their Little Rock roots?