Warriors Don't Cry

In all the books we have read for this class, in the back of my mind I have always thought about how I would teach it or apply to my classroom, Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals has made an impression that will stick with me for a long time. Why did this book make such an impact on you that responded to it differently then all the others? What makes this book so important? This question has been circling around in my mind since I finished and I believe that I have pinned it down to the that it is a historical memoir. Melba's historical memoir gives more to the reader than just another story but a different look at what really happened back in the 1950's with intergration.

The most powerful characterisitc that Melba gave to this book is the powerful atmosphere she gives a reader. The truth and honesty of how she felt, what she sees in others, and her constant struggles with her oustide world. This is what impacts the reader so much, for example as it states, "With the passage of time, I became increasingly aware of how all of the adults around me were living with constant fear and apprehension. It felt as though we always had a white foot pressed against the back of out necks" (pg 7). When I first read this passage I thought "WOW", as a 15 year-old sharing information about a dominating picture of the society she is in is honestly scary. What I would want my future students to get out of this book is that Melba truly had no one at times to turn to. Her parents could not protect her, like most students of this day and age their save haven is their parents and Melba takes away their saftey blanket. Creating an atmosphere that sometimes shakes a reader right in their seat is not the only thing Melba does through out her book, her character is someone everyone can look up to.

Reading about Melba, a real person that went through real events, puts readers in her shoes. Mebla creates a powerful story that readers are happy it wasn't them, but it also provides a scents of determation that is constantly passed from Melba to the readers looking in. From almost being rapped to getting beat up everyday at school; Melba picks herself up and keeps going to school. What comes as the biggest shocker at the end of the book is when Melba answers her Grandma about being grateful for going to Central Highschool saying, "Grateful, I thought. Never. How could I be grateful for being at Central High? But I knew she was always right," (pg 214). Through all the pain that she describes in her book, being grateful is a feeling no one was expecting.

Melba Pattillo Beals created a historical memoir, Warriors Don't Cry, this book is one that gives a second look on the historical events during intergration. Not only does Mebla share bits and pieces of her diary but along with her inner most feelings when it comes to intergration. Readers will feel a close connect with her through her personal testimonies and things that tried to stop her from going to school. Through it all she made it the whole year in Central Highschool. Conquring fear, being able to express what she went through, and creating a book that empowers people is what really makes Melba a warrior.