Tutoring with Cassi Riggs

Another Black History/Disabled History Moment--Did you know that Brown v Board of Education paved the way for IDEA?

And another, "this isn't ancient history!"

Ruby Bridges is alive, well, and speaking at a library about 12 miles down the road from me tonight. I had tickets to go, but B has a game. I wanted to go thank her for what she did--and if she can endure what she endured at age 6, we can endure current times.

Ruby Bridges was just six years old when she became the first Black child to integrate an all-white elementary school. But her story isn't just about a historic court case—it’s about the unimaginable strength and courage she showed in the face of cruelty that no child should ever endure.

In 1960, Ruby walked into William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, escorted by federal marshals, because the white community made it very clear they did not want her there. White parents pulled their children out of school. Teachers refused to teach her. Angry mobs lined up outside the school, screaming slurs and threats at her every single day. One woman held up a tiny coffin with a Black doll inside to terrorize her. And through it all, Ruby—this little six-year-old—kept walking, kept learning, kept showing up.

What most people don’t talk about is that inside the school, things weren’t much better. She spent an entire year in a classroom completely alone because no white children were allowed to sit with her. Only one teacher, Barbara Henry, agreed to teach her. When she ate lunch, she had to bring her own food because a woman had threatened to poison her.

Ruby’s story isn’t just about her personal bravery. It’s about what her experience paved the way for. The same Supreme Court case that forced the integration of schools—Brown v. Board of Education—also helped lay the foundation for special education laws. It established that separate is not equal. That case, along with subsequent rulings, helped lead to the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which protects students with disabilities and guarantees them the right to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). It's all intertwined.

Ruby faced mobs of people who wanted to break her spirit, but she refused to be broken. But if a six-year-old could stand up to hate with nothing but courage and determination, we can stand up, too.

This fight is worth it. And history proves that change is possible. Keep going.