March 2, 2025 • 17 mins
In today's episode, we take a powerful journey into history by focusing on the life of Daisy Bates. As an unsung hero of the Civil Rights Movement, Daisy's advocacy for the Little Rock Nine showcases her unwavering strength in the face of adversity.
Throughout the episode, we explore how Daisy's childhood experiences shaped her drive to fight against racial injustice, making her a pivotal figure in the integration of schools. Join us as we honor Daisy Bates and her unwavering support and fight for civil rights.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Daijné (00:00):
Is this thing on?
Hello, hello.
Uh-oh, another yapper with amic.
Hello everyone, and welcomeback to the Napkin Inbetween
podcast.
I am your host, Daijné Jones.
I hope everyone is having agood week, except for that
(00:22):
orange drink lady.
I have been having a stellarweek because I have had this
entire week off of work.
This is the peak of my week.
By the way, obviously, apartfrom doing content creation, I
am a full-time nanny, and thefamily that I nanny for are avid
skiers.
So they went to Aspen for a skitrip and um gave me the whole
week off because they weren't intown.
(00:43):
And when I tell you that this isreally just the life for me?
I've said this to my momseveral times and she laughs at
me every time.
But I'm dead fucking serious.
I was not born to work.
Like working.
I've tried it for the last 13years.
Her and I we're just notkiki-ing like we're supposed to.
I don't like her, she don'tlike me.
(01:03):
We have major fucking beef.
Yet, unfortunately, you have towork to survive.
And it's just like I want to bea stay-at-home daughter.
Like I don't want to work.
I really don't want to work.
I'm too pretty to work.
I say that to my mom too, andshe laughs at me and I'm like
I'm dead serious, like she doesnot take me seriously.
But it's like anytime you'reready to have a stay-at-home
(01:24):
daughter, you let me know and Iwill move in, I will clean the
house, I'll take care ofeverything.
Let me know when you're readyfor me and Luna to come and we
will come.
Like I'm not kidding, but I'vehad this whole week off and so I
had so many things planned thatI wanted to do Like I wanted to
(01:48):
film a few podcast episodes.
I wanted to film a few YouTubevideos, just so that I would
have things in my arsenal that Iwould just need to edit and
then I could put out.
I've done none of those things.
I have done none of thosethings.
To give you a little bit ofcontext, I usually film my
podcast episodes on Sunday sothat it gives me the whole week
to edit them and then I can putthem out the next Sunday.
I did not film last week'spodcast episode until Wednesday
because I was just like I haveoff, like I can just relax, I
can put them out the next Sunday.
I did not film last week'spodcast episode until Wednesday,
because I was just like I haveoff, like I can just relax.
I can watch TV, I can hang outwith my dog, and I feel like I
(02:11):
just never get time to relax.
If I'm not at work, nannying,I'm editing my podcast.
If I'm not editing my podcast,I'm filming my podcast.
If I'm not filming my podcast,I'm filming for YouTube.
If I'm not filming for YouTube,I'm editing for YouTube.
If I'm not editing for YouTube,I'm making a TikTok.
Like I never just get a chanceto relax because literally I
(02:31):
don't care what you bitches say.
Content creation is a full-timejob and it's basically like,
currently I have two full-timejobs because content creation
unfortunately is not paying allof my bills right now, so I
still have to work.
So I basically have twofull-time jobs, but one of those
jobs pays me part-time.
You know what I mean.
And so I just feel like I neverget a time to relax or settle
down.
And don't get me wrong, I loveboth of my jobs.
I love content creation and Ilove nannying, but sometimes a
(02:53):
bitch just wants to fuckingrelax.
You know what I mean.
Like, so I was pretty lazy allweek.
I did not film any YouTubevideos.
I was hella late filming mypodcast episode for last week.
Do I feel bad about it?
No, no, like part of me is likefeeling a little like shit,
like I had all this stuffplanned out that I should have
been doing and I didn't do anyof it.
But the other part of me isjust like, because of the way
(03:15):
the world is set up and and Ithink it was that Ford bitch who
put out the 40 hour work weeklike I just never get a chance
to relax and just sit down andjust be lazy, and so that's what
I did instead.
And and do I have a few regrets?
Maybe, but mostly I don't haveany regrets, because just as
important as it is to work, itis equally as important to rest,
and so that's what I did.
(03:36):
I rested and, honestly, I feela lot better because, like I
said, I'm always moving.
I never get to sit down and youknow, sitting down was what I
needed.
That's exactly what I needed,so that's what I did.
So if anyone was expecting someYouTube content soon other than
my podcast, obviously this willalways go up every week, but my
personal YouTube channel whereI vlog and stuff like that.
(03:56):
So sorry, I know I've lefty'all in the dust a little bit.
I'm trying, I'm not trying, butI'm trying, I'm trying.
But anyway, tell me the peak ofyour week.
What did you do this week thatkept you grounded, made you
smile, kept you present?
All that good stuff?
Please leave it in the comments.
So what are we gonna talk abouttoday?
(04:16):
Continuing on with our seriesof shedding light on figures in
black history who, I feel like,do not get the recognition they
deserve.
I would like to take us back toa well-known story of the
Little Rock Nine, and if you'renot familiar with that story,
I'll go into it in brief detail.
But I do encourage you to dosome more research on the little
Rock Nine.
I want to focus on a person whowas an integral part of the
(04:37):
Little Rock Nine and that storyand integrating into the Little
Rock High School in Little Rock,Arkansas.
So today we're going to talkabout Daisy Gatson Bates, and I
want to give a quick triggerwarning there is mention of
sexual assault in this episode.
Daisy Gatson was born November11th 1914 in Huttig, arkansas.
She was born to Hezekiah Gatsonand Millie Gatson.
Her mother was a stay-at-homemom and her dad worked as a
(04:59):
lumber grader at a local millwhen she was just an infant,
three white men came to hermother's home and told her
mother that her husband had beeninjured and she needed to come
with them and see about him.
And so, obviously as a caringwife, she went with these three
men to go see about her husband.
These three white men ended upraping and murdering her, and so
, after this happened, herfather was afraid and felt like
they would come after him next,and so he gave Daisy to two of
(05:21):
her mother's closest friends,Orlee Smith and Susie Smith, and
abandoned Daisy, and she neverseen him again.
And so, because she was givento her mother's close friends to
raise at a young age, shedidn't know at first that she
was not being raised by herbiological parents.
She actually learned at the ageof eight, through a cousin who
was talking about, you know, herbiological mother and the
(05:42):
murder, that Orlee and Susiewere not her biological parents.
And so, learning about hermother's rape and murder and how
the police, you know, neverinvestigated or arrested or no
one was charged or held legallyresponsible for any of this, a
fire for fighting socialinjustice was ignited in Daisy,
and from this moment on she knewthat she wanted to, you know,
be an advocate and fight forsocial injustice towards black
(06:04):
people.
And not only did it ignite thisfire for fighting social
injustice, but she was also veryvengeful and she wanted
vengeance on these men who hadraped and murdered her mother.
She wrote a book and she talksabout how, later on in her life,
she was at a commissary and metone of the men who alluded to
the fact that he may have beeninvolved with her mother's
killing.
And so after that, she would goto the commissary and belittle
(06:25):
him.
Only with her eyes, she wouldjust stare at him to let him
basically know, like I know whatyou did.
And it got to the point wherehe, you know, went to her and he
was like please leave me alone.
Like stop staring at me, youknow, stop tormenting me.
She didn't as she shouldn't andeventually he drunk himself to
death.
And I just need to say, likeshe's so fucking real for that.
She's so fucking real for that.
(06:46):
Like if somebody ever didsomething to my mother bitch, it
would take mary joseph, babyjesus, the three wise men, the
little drummer boy and theworkers at the inn to get me off
of them.
I fear.
Daisy is just like me for real,because one thing I don't play
about is my mother.
It is literally me against theworld over that lady.
I swear.
(07:06):
Daisy knew that her mother nevergot the justice that she
deserved, so she handed outjustice in a way that she could,
and she's so real for that andI stand ten toes behind my girl
for that.
But not only did she have thisvengeance for you know the three
men who had raped and murderedher mother but she grew to hate
white people and Orlee herfather, the man who raised her,
saw that this hatred was liketaking over her, and so on his
(07:29):
deathbed he gave her some adviceand I want to read it to you.
So he says to her you're filledwith with hatred.
Hate can destroy you.
Daisy, don't hate white peoplejust because they're white.
If you hate, make it count forsomething.
Hate the humiliations we areliving under in the South.
Hate the discrimination thateats away at the South.
Hate the discrimination thateats away at the soul of every
black man and woman.
(07:49):
Hate the insults hurled at usby white scum and then try to do
something about it, or yourhate won't spell a thing.
And so after she was given thisadvice, she channeled this into
her civil rights advocacy andfighting for the civil rights of
black people.
So then, at 17, she starts todate Lucius Christopher Bates,
who was more commonly known asLC Bates, and in 1942 they ended
(08:11):
up getting married.
After they get married, theymove around a little bit and
then they decide to settle inLittle Rock, Arkansas.
So after they moved to LittleRock, they decided to follow
what was one of their dreams,which is to open a newspaper,
and so they start this weeklystatewide paper called the
Arkansas State Press.
In their paper they decide tofocus on the hardships of black
people and the civil injusticesthat happen to black people in
(08:31):
the South, and they did notsugarcoat anything.
They told their stories exactlyhow they were, about the police
brutality.
There were black soldiers at anearby army base who were
treated improperly, and so theywould talk about that as well,
just telling the stories ofblack people.
Because at the time, and evenstill so today, the stories of
the injustices that black peopleface often go unnoticed, and so
(08:52):
they wanted to bring more lightto the injustices that were
being faced by black people.
And so, because of the thingsthat they're writing in their
paper, they are struggling withad revenue because white
businesses did not want to payfor ad space in their papers
while they were talking aboutthe shit that white people were
doing and how they were treatingblack people and different
things like that.
So in 1952, daisy becomes thepresident of the arkansas
(09:15):
chapter of the NAACP, which weknow is the national association
for the advancement of coloredpeople, and so once she becomes
president, she decides that shewants to hone in on inequality
when it comes to education.
And so two years after shebecame the president of the
NAACP was when the supreme courtruled on Brown versus the Board
of Education, which said thatsegregation of public schools
was unconstitutional even ifthey were deemed quote unquote
(09:38):
equal.
Because, as we know, in 1896was Plessy versus Ferguson,
which said that segregation waslegal as long as the facilities
were deemed equal, which becamewhat we know separate but equal.
And so with Plessy versusFerguson, it was legal for
businesses to be raciallysegregated, so like restaurants,
schools, water fountains, thebuses, different things like
(09:59):
that, as long as they were equal.
And then with Brown versusBoard of Education, it was found
that businesses and schools andeverything like that were
separate, but they weredefinitely, damn sure weren't
fucking equal.
And so that's when, in 1954,Brown versus Board of Education
it was ruled that segregation ofschools was unconstitutional.
And so, with the decision ofBrown versus Board of Education,
(10:20):
the Supreme Court decided thatsegregation within schools was
unconstitutional and thatschools needed to be integrated.
But they left it up to federaljudges and the states to
facilitate this integration.
And so the governor of Arkansasat the time Orval Faubus, was a
well-known person who was inopposition to school integration
.
And so they came up with thisplan called the blossom plan,
(10:42):
where they said that they wouldfirst integrate high schools and
then it would trickle down to,like you know, middle school,
elementary, different thingslike that.
But Daisy realized that theblossom plan was not a plan of
integration at all, but ratherit was a plan to stall
integration.
It was basically like a "heredamn, you know what I mean.
Like they were like okay, wehave this plan, but they really
had no intention of putting theplan in place and in action.
(11:04):
And so Daisy then went andselected nine students, known as
the Little Rock Nine, who wouldbe the students that would
integrate the Little Rock HighSchool.
I was reading about thisprocess and it said that she
carefully vetted the studentsthat she had selected and then
they also went through intensecounseling to prepare for what
they would face when they weretrying to integrate.
(11:24):
Mind you, these are high schoolstudents, 14, 15 years old,
just want to go to school, justwant an equal and appropriate
education, and they had to beprepared for what they would
face, ie angry mobs yelling atthem and protesting against you
know them integrating the schoolsimply because they just wanted
an education and Daisy was withthem every step of the way for
(11:45):
this process.
Her house became known as, likethe safe house or the house of
organization, and so they wouldall meet there to talk about,
you know, the plan and toprepare these students for what
they were going to face.
And because her house becamethe central place for all of
these things, there weremultiple times where her house
was vandalized.
There was a time where a rockwas thrown through her window
(12:07):
and written on the rock was thistime a rock, next time it'll be
dynamite.
There were crosses burned inher front yard.
One of them was etched in andit said go back to Africa, the
kkk.
Another one was leaned againsther house in an attempt to, you
know, make the fire spread fromthe cross to her house.
And through all of this, daisypersisted.
(12:27):
She had a goal, she knew whatshe wanted to do and she didn't
let any of this stop her.
And so in 1957 is when theLittle Rock Nine were enrolled
in the school and you know theywere trying to go to class and
the governor of Arkansas calledout the National Guard to
prevent these nine students fromgoing into the school.
And he said it was to protectthe students.
(12:49):
But obviously everyone knowsthat he just didn't want
integration into the school.
And so daisy's showing up withthese kids every day, you know,
trying to walk them into theschool.
The national guard is therepreventing them from getting
into the school.
And this is where we get, youknow, that infamous picture of
one of the students, ElizabethEckford, who was trying to walk
into the school and the whitewoman is behind her yelling.
(13:11):
And I wasn't aware of thebackstory of this photo.
So what had happened was Daisywanted to be there to walk all
of the students into school andto help them try to integrate
right.
And so the night before themorning of this picture and the
kids going to school, she hadcalled eight of the nine
students to let them know likehey, we're gonna all show up
together, I'm gonna be therewith you to to walk you into
(13:32):
school.
Elizabeth's family didn't havea phone, so daisy wasn't able to
reach her to let her know ofthe carpool plan.
And so Elizabeth arrives at theschool by herself, you know,
tries to walk in and is met withthis angry mob.
And daisy said that thissituation really hurt her and
she felt like she had let thisstudent down because she hadn't
let Elizabeth know.
You know that we're all goingto show up together, we're all
(13:54):
going to carpool.
And so after that, you know,Daisy found a way and made sure
that you know that would neverhappen again.
So she used her organizationskills in order to ensure the
safety of the students.
So she would have ministersescorting the students into the
school.
So two ministers would walk inthe front of the nine students,
(14:18):
two ministers would be in theback escorting them into school.
She would talk with the parentsof the little rock nine
multiple times throughout theday just to let them know like,
hey, your kids are safe, they'reokay.
While they were in school shejoined the parent teacher
organization for the school eventhough she had no children
enrolled in the school.
She joined it so that she couldmake sure that she was there to
ensure the safety of the LittleRock Rine.
She was just doing everythingthat she could in order to
ensure these students safety andmake sure that they could go to
school as peacefully aspossible.
(14:39):
And every day Daisy and thestudents were there to integrate
into school.
The mobs were there as well,screaming at them, physically
assaulting them, spitting atthem.
You know, fighting back ondesegregation.
And it got to the point wherePresident Eisenisenhower had to
enlist the arkansas nationalguard to ensure the children's
safety and so that they couldintegrate into the school.
And even with the nationalguard there, daisy was still
(15:02):
very much present, walking thestudents into school, talking
with their parents, let themknow how they were doing in
school and, you know, being asinvolved in the school as
possible to ensure the kidssafety and education.
And I think that sometimes itcan go overlooked because you
know we talk about the LittleRock Nine, but the behind the
scenes of it all was so integralto the desegregation and these
(15:23):
students being able to go toschool and one of the people who
fought tirelessly to make surethat these children were safe
and educated.
And so I just wanted to bringmore light to her and her civil
rights work.
Even after, you know,desegregation, she still
continued her civil rightsadvocacy in Arkansas and she
even moved to DC for a littlebit and continued her advocacy
work and civil rights work thereand then after DC, she moved
(15:45):
back to Arkansas because she hada stroke and even after her
stroke she still foughttirelessly as a civil rights
activist and, you know, talkedabout the systematic injustice
that black people face until shepassed away at the age of 88.
And I just wanted to bring morelight to Daisy Bates Gatson and
her work in, you know,education and the NAACP and her
(16:06):
civil advocacy.
If you would like to learn moreabout Daisy and her story, she
did write a memoir it's called"The Long Shadow of Little Rock,
where she talks more about, youknow, her work with the little
rock nine and all of her othercivil rights advocacy and
different things like that.
So feel free to check that out.
But I just wanted to shed morelight on the story of the Little
Rock Nine, which I feel like isa very well-known story, right,
but I feel like sometimes wecan forget about the people who
(16:27):
worked in the shadows and on theback end, and so I just wanted
to bring more light to Daisy,who fought tirelessly to ensure
the safety and the right toeducation for these students.
Okay, I'm done talking now.
Thank you for tuning in totoday's episode.
I hope that it was educational.
I hope that everyone is havinga good day, except for that
orange drink lady, and I willtalk to you in the next episode.
(16:48):
Peace and love.
Talk to you later.
Is this thing on?
Hello, hello.
Uh-oh, another yapper with amic.
Hello everyone, and welcomeback to the Napkin Inbetween
podcast.
I am your host, Daijné Jones.
I hope everyone is having agood week, except for that
(00:22):
orange drink lady.
I have been having a stellarweek because I have had this
entire week off of work.
This is the peak of my week.
By the way, obviously, apartfrom doing content creation, I
am a full-time nanny, and thefamily that I nanny for are avid
skiers.
So they went to Aspen for a skitrip and um gave me the whole
week off because they weren't intown.
(00:43):
And when I tell you that this isreally just the life for me?
I've said this to my momseveral times and she laughs at
me every time.
But I'm dead fucking serious.
I was not born to work.
Like working.
I've tried it for the last 13years.
Her and I we're just notkiki-ing like we're supposed to.
I don't like her, she don'tlike me.
(01:03):
We have major fucking beef.
Yet, unfortunately, you have towork to survive.
And it's just like I want to bea stay-at-home daughter.
Like I don't want to work.
I really don't want to work.
I'm too pretty to work.
I say that to my mom too, andshe laughs at me and I'm like
I'm dead serious, like she doesnot take me seriously.
But it's like anytime you'reready to have a stay-at-home
(01:24):
daughter, you let me know and Iwill move in, I will clean the
house, I'll take care ofeverything.
Let me know when you're readyfor me and Luna to come and we
will come.
Like I'm not kidding, but I'vehad this whole week off and so I
had so many things planned thatI wanted to do Like I wanted to
(01:48):
film a few podcast episodes.
I wanted to film a few YouTubevideos, just so that I would
have things in my arsenal that Iwould just need to edit and
then I could put out.
I've done none of those things.
I have done none of thosethings.
To give you a little bit ofcontext, I usually film my
podcast episodes on Sunday sothat it gives me the whole week
to edit them and then I can putthem out the next Sunday.
I did not film last week'spodcast episode until Wednesday
because I was just like I haveoff, like I can just relax, I
can put them out the next Sunday.
I did not film last week'spodcast episode until Wednesday,
because I was just like I haveoff, like I can just relax.
I can watch TV, I can hang outwith my dog, and I feel like I
(02:11):
just never get time to relax.
If I'm not at work, nannying,I'm editing my podcast.
If I'm not editing my podcast,I'm filming my podcast.
If I'm not filming my podcast,I'm filming for YouTube.
If I'm not filming for YouTube,I'm editing for YouTube.
If I'm not editing for YouTube,I'm making a TikTok.
Like I never just get a chanceto relax because literally I
(02:31):
don't care what you bitches say.
Content creation is a full-timejob and it's basically like,
currently I have two full-timejobs because content creation
unfortunately is not paying allof my bills right now, so I
still have to work.
So I basically have twofull-time jobs, but one of those
jobs pays me part-time.
You know what I mean.
And so I just feel like I neverget a time to relax or settle
down.
And don't get me wrong, I loveboth of my jobs.
I love content creation and Ilove nannying, but sometimes a
(02:53):
bitch just wants to fuckingrelax.
You know what I mean.
Like, so I was pretty lazy allweek.
I did not film any YouTubevideos.
I was hella late filming mypodcast episode for last week.
Do I feel bad about it?
No, no, like part of me is likefeeling a little like shit,
like I had all this stuffplanned out that I should have
been doing and I didn't do anyof it.
But the other part of me isjust like, because of the way
(03:15):
the world is set up and and Ithink it was that Ford bitch who
put out the 40 hour work weeklike I just never get a chance
to relax and just sit down andjust be lazy, and so that's what
I did instead.
And and do I have a few regrets?
Maybe, but mostly I don't haveany regrets, because just as
important as it is to work, itis equally as important to rest,
and so that's what I did.
(03:36):
I rested and, honestly, I feela lot better because, like I
said, I'm always moving.
I never get to sit down and youknow, sitting down was what I
needed.
That's exactly what I needed,so that's what I did.
So if anyone was expecting someYouTube content soon other than
my podcast, obviously this willalways go up every week, but my
personal YouTube channel whereI vlog and stuff like that.
(03:56):
So sorry, I know I've lefty'all in the dust a little bit.
I'm trying, I'm not trying, butI'm trying, I'm trying.
But anyway, tell me the peak ofyour week.
What did you do this week thatkept you grounded, made you
smile, kept you present?
All that good stuff?
Please leave it in the comments.
So what are we gonna talk abouttoday?
(04:16):
Continuing on with our seriesof shedding light on figures in
black history who, I feel like,do not get the recognition they
deserve.
I would like to take us back toa well-known story of the
Little Rock Nine, and if you'renot familiar with that story,
I'll go into it in brief detail.
But I do encourage you to dosome more research on the little
Rock Nine.
I want to focus on a person whowas an integral part of the
(04:37):
Little Rock Nine and that storyand integrating into the Little
Rock High School in Little Rock,Arkansas.
So today we're going to talkabout Daisy Gatson Bates, and I
want to give a quick triggerwarning there is mention of
sexual assault in this episode.
Daisy Gatson was born November11th 1914 in Huttig, arkansas.
She was born to Hezekiah Gatsonand Millie Gatson.
Her mother was a stay-at-homemom and her dad worked as a
(04:59):
lumber grader at a local millwhen she was just an infant,
three white men came to hermother's home and told her
mother that her husband had beeninjured and she needed to come
with them and see about him.
And so, obviously as a caringwife, she went with these three
men to go see about her husband.
These three white men ended upraping and murdering her, and so
, after this happened, herfather was afraid and felt like
they would come after him next,and so he gave Daisy to two of
(05:21):
her mother's closest friends,Orlee Smith and Susie Smith, and
abandoned Daisy, and she neverseen him again.
And so, because she was givento her mother's close friends to
raise at a young age, shedidn't know at first that she
was not being raised by herbiological parents.
She actually learned at the ageof eight, through a cousin who
was talking about, you know, herbiological mother and the
(05:42):
murder, that Orlee and Susiewere not her biological parents.
And so, learning about hermother's rape and murder and how
the police, you know, neverinvestigated or arrested or no
one was charged or held legallyresponsible for any of this, a
fire for fighting socialinjustice was ignited in Daisy,
and from this moment on she knewthat she wanted to, you know,
be an advocate and fight forsocial injustice towards black
(06:04):
people.
And not only did it ignite thisfire for fighting social
injustice, but she was also veryvengeful and she wanted
vengeance on these men who hadraped and murdered her mother.
She wrote a book and she talksabout how, later on in her life,
she was at a commissary and metone of the men who alluded to
the fact that he may have beeninvolved with her mother's
killing.
And so after that, she would goto the commissary and belittle
(06:25):
him.
Only with her eyes, she wouldjust stare at him to let him
basically know, like I know whatyou did.
And it got to the point wherehe, you know, went to her and he
was like please leave me alone.
Like stop staring at me, youknow, stop tormenting me.
She didn't as she shouldn't andeventually he drunk himself to
death.
And I just need to say, likeshe's so fucking real for that.
She's so fucking real for that.
(06:46):
Like if somebody ever didsomething to my mother bitch, it
would take mary joseph, babyjesus, the three wise men, the
little drummer boy and theworkers at the inn to get me off
of them.
I fear.
Daisy is just like me for real,because one thing I don't play
about is my mother.
It is literally me against theworld over that lady.
I swear.
(07:06):
Daisy knew that her mother nevergot the justice that she
deserved, so she handed outjustice in a way that she could,
and she's so real for that andI stand ten toes behind my girl
for that.
But not only did she have thisvengeance for you know the three
men who had raped and murderedher mother but she grew to hate
white people and Orlee herfather, the man who raised her,
saw that this hatred was liketaking over her, and so on his
(07:29):
deathbed he gave her some adviceand I want to read it to you.
So he says to her you're filledwith with hatred.
Hate can destroy you.
Daisy, don't hate white peoplejust because they're white.
If you hate, make it count forsomething.
Hate the humiliations we areliving under in the South.
Hate the discrimination thateats away at the South.
Hate the discrimination thateats away at the soul of every
black man and woman.
(07:49):
Hate the insults hurled at usby white scum and then try to do
something about it, or yourhate won't spell a thing.
And so after she was given thisadvice, she channeled this into
her civil rights advocacy andfighting for the civil rights of
black people.
So then, at 17, she starts todate Lucius Christopher Bates,
who was more commonly known asLC Bates, and in 1942 they ended
(08:11):
up getting married.
After they get married, theymove around a little bit and
then they decide to settle inLittle Rock, Arkansas.
So after they moved to LittleRock, they decided to follow
what was one of their dreams,which is to open a newspaper,
and so they start this weeklystatewide paper called the
Arkansas State Press.
In their paper they decide tofocus on the hardships of black
people and the civil injusticesthat happen to black people in
(08:31):
the South, and they did notsugarcoat anything.
They told their stories exactlyhow they were, about the police
brutality.
There were black soldiers at anearby army base who were
treated improperly, and so theywould talk about that as well,
just telling the stories ofblack people.
Because at the time, and evenstill so today, the stories of
the injustices that black peopleface often go unnoticed, and so
(08:52):
they wanted to bring more lightto the injustices that were
being faced by black people.
And so, because of the thingsthat they're writing in their
paper, they are struggling withad revenue because white
businesses did not want to payfor ad space in their papers
while they were talking aboutthe shit that white people were
doing and how they were treatingblack people and different
things like that.
So in 1952, daisy becomes thepresident of the arkansas
(09:15):
chapter of the NAACP, which weknow is the national association
for the advancement of coloredpeople, and so once she becomes
president, she decides that shewants to hone in on inequality
when it comes to education.
And so two years after shebecame the president of the
NAACP was when the supreme courtruled on Brown versus the Board
of Education, which said thatsegregation of public schools
was unconstitutional even ifthey were deemed quote unquote
(09:38):
equal.
Because, as we know, in 1896was Plessy versus Ferguson,
which said that segregation waslegal as long as the facilities
were deemed equal, which becamewhat we know separate but equal.
And so with Plessy versusFerguson, it was legal for
businesses to be raciallysegregated, so like restaurants,
schools, water fountains, thebuses, different things like
(09:59):
that, as long as they were equal.
And then with Brown versusBoard of Education, it was found
that businesses and schools andeverything like that were
separate, but they weredefinitely, damn sure weren't
fucking equal.
And so that's when, in 1954,Brown versus Board of Education
it was ruled that segregation ofschools was unconstitutional.
And so, with the decision ofBrown versus Board of Education,
(10:20):
the Supreme Court decided thatsegregation within schools was
unconstitutional and thatschools needed to be integrated.
But they left it up to federaljudges and the states to
facilitate this integration.
And so the governor of Arkansasat the time Orval Faubus, was a
well-known person who was inopposition to school integration
.
And so they came up with thisplan called the blossom plan,
(10:42):
where they said that they wouldfirst integrate high schools and
then it would trickle down to,like you know, middle school,
elementary, different thingslike that.
But Daisy realized that theblossom plan was not a plan of
integration at all, but ratherit was a plan to stall
integration.
It was basically like a "heredamn, you know what I mean.
Like they were like okay, wehave this plan, but they really
had no intention of putting theplan in place and in action.
(11:04):
And so Daisy then went andselected nine students, known as
the Little Rock Nine, who wouldbe the students that would
integrate the Little Rock HighSchool.
I was reading about thisprocess and it said that she
carefully vetted the studentsthat she had selected and then
they also went through intensecounseling to prepare for what
they would face when they weretrying to integrate.
(11:24):
Mind you, these are high schoolstudents, 14, 15 years old,
just want to go to school, justwant an equal and appropriate
education, and they had to beprepared for what they would
face, ie angry mobs yelling atthem and protesting against you
know them integrating the schoolsimply because they just wanted
an education and Daisy was withthem every step of the way for
(11:45):
this process.
Her house became known as, likethe safe house or the house of
organization, and so they wouldall meet there to talk about,
you know, the plan and toprepare these students for what
they were going to face.
And because her house becamethe central place for all of
these things, there weremultiple times where her house
was vandalized.
There was a time where a rockwas thrown through her window
(12:07):
and written on the rock was thistime a rock, next time it'll be
dynamite.
There were crosses burned inher front yard.
One of them was etched in andit said go back to Africa, the
kkk.
Another one was leaned againsther house in an attempt to, you
know, make the fire spread fromthe cross to her house.
And through all of this, daisypersisted.
(12:27):
She had a goal, she knew whatshe wanted to do and she didn't
let any of this stop her.
And so in 1957 is when theLittle Rock Nine were enrolled
in the school and you know theywere trying to go to class and
the governor of Arkansas calledout the National Guard to
prevent these nine students fromgoing into the school.
And he said it was to protectthe students.
(12:49):
But obviously everyone knowsthat he just didn't want
integration into the school.
And so daisy's showing up withthese kids every day, you know,
trying to walk them into theschool.
The national guard is therepreventing them from getting
into the school.
And this is where we get, youknow, that infamous picture of
one of the students, ElizabethEckford, who was trying to walk
into the school and the whitewoman is behind her yelling.
(13:11):
And I wasn't aware of thebackstory of this photo.
So what had happened was Daisywanted to be there to walk all
of the students into school andto help them try to integrate
right.
And so the night before themorning of this picture and the
kids going to school, she hadcalled eight of the nine
students to let them know likehey, we're gonna all show up
together, I'm gonna be therewith you to to walk you into
(13:32):
school.
Elizabeth's family didn't havea phone, so daisy wasn't able to
reach her to let her know ofthe carpool plan.
And so Elizabeth arrives at theschool by herself, you know,
tries to walk in and is met withthis angry mob.
And daisy said that thissituation really hurt her and
she felt like she had let thisstudent down because she hadn't
let Elizabeth know.
You know that we're all goingto show up together, we're all
(13:54):
going to carpool.
And so after that, you know,Daisy found a way and made sure
that you know that would neverhappen again.
So she used her organizationskills in order to ensure the
safety of the students.
So she would have ministersescorting the students into the
school.
So two ministers would walk inthe front of the nine students,
(14:18):
two ministers would be in theback escorting them into school.
She would talk with the parentsof the little rock nine
multiple times throughout theday just to let them know like,
hey, your kids are safe, they'reokay.
While they were in school shejoined the parent teacher
organization for the school eventhough she had no children
enrolled in the school.
She joined it so that she couldmake sure that she was there to
ensure the safety of the LittleRock Rine.
She was just doing everythingthat she could in order to
ensure these students safety andmake sure that they could go to
school as peacefully aspossible.
(14:39):
And every day Daisy and thestudents were there to integrate
into school.
The mobs were there as well,screaming at them, physically
assaulting them, spitting atthem.
You know, fighting back ondesegregation.
And it got to the point wherePresident Eisenisenhower had to
enlist the arkansas nationalguard to ensure the children's
safety and so that they couldintegrate into the school.
And even with the nationalguard there, daisy was still
(15:02):
very much present, walking thestudents into school, talking
with their parents, let themknow how they were doing in
school and, you know, being asinvolved in the school as
possible to ensure the kidssafety and education.
And I think that sometimes itcan go overlooked because you
know we talk about the LittleRock Nine, but the behind the
scenes of it all was so integralto the desegregation and these
(15:23):
students being able to go toschool and one of the people who
fought tirelessly to make surethat these children were safe
and educated.
And so I just wanted to bringmore light to her and her civil
rights work.
Even after, you know,desegregation, she still
continued her civil rightsadvocacy in Arkansas and she
even moved to DC for a littlebit and continued her advocacy
work and civil rights work thereand then after DC, she moved
(15:45):
back to Arkansas because she hada stroke and even after her
stroke she still foughttirelessly as a civil rights
activist and, you know, talkedabout the systematic injustice
that black people face until shepassed away at the age of 88.
And I just wanted to bring morelight to Daisy Bates Gatson and
her work in, you know,education and the NAACP and her
(16:06):
civil advocacy.
If you would like to learn moreabout Daisy and her story, she
did write a memoir it's called"The Long Shadow of Little Rock,
where she talks more about, youknow, her work with the little
rock nine and all of her othercivil rights advocacy and
different things like that.
So feel free to check that out.
But I just wanted to shed morelight on the story of the Little
Rock Nine, which I feel like isa very well-known story, right,
but I feel like sometimes wecan forget about the people who
(16:27):
worked in the shadows and on theback end, and so I just wanted
to bring more light to Daisy,who fought tirelessly to ensure
the safety and the right toeducation for these students.
Okay, I'm done talking now.
Thank you for tuning in totoday's episode.
I hope that it was educational.
I hope that everyone is havinga good day, except for that
orange drink lady, and I willtalk to you in the next episode.
(16:48):
Peace and love.
Talk to you later.
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