In 1957, Dorothy Counts proudly walked into North Carolina’s Harding High – as an enraged white crowd spit and threw trash at her! She was the first Black student to integrate the school, a famous photograph of her sparking international conversations about racism in America.
She was harassed for weeks! When the school refused to provide protection, Counts’ parents moved the family to Philadelphia. But she vowed to return.
Counts eventually returned to NC to receive her degree – and 65 years later, she’s still there, a pillar in her community. Reflecting on experiences at Harding and her current community organizing, Counts stated, "I've always wanted to work to make sure that bad things don't happen to other children."
But she fears segregation still runs America’s educational system.
In 2009, a federal judge passed a bus zoning law that sneakily worked to re-segregate NC schools. Counts began seeing an eerie similarity to schools she attended as a child.
Her own granddaughter’s classroom went weeks without books, chairs, and other resources needed to make learning possible!
America’s educational system strategically fails Black children by maintaining the wealth gap between white and Black citizens. Counts works to inspire children to value their education, using her experience to demand that Black children receive equitable resources and care.
Black children are the future. Let us uplift and protect them!