Brown Trickey of Little Rock Nine will speak at YSU and cathedral

Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past and Youngstown State University Women’s Studies will host Minnijean Brown Trickey, who gained fame as one of the Little Rock Nine.

She will speak at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in McKay Auditorium at YSU and again at 7 p.m. at St. Columba Cathedral, 144 W. Wood St.

A pre-event reception from 5:30-6:30 p.m. will feature Brown Trickey at the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be served.

Both of these events are free and open to the public.

Brown Trickey is one of the nine black students who collectively resisted opposition to the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School in 1957.

She and the others became known as the Little Rock Nine. Although all of the nine experienced verbal and physical harassment during their year at Central, Brown Trickey was first suspended and then expelled for retaliating against the daily torment.

She has dedicated her adult life to peacemaking, environmental issues, developing youth leadership, diversity education, cross-cultural communication, and gender and social justice advocacy.

Brown Trickey has received many awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Tribute by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, the International Wolf Award for her contributions to racial harmony, and the NAACP Spingarn Medal and the Congressional Gold Medal (with the Little Rock Nine.)