The Hoxie 21 will be honored at a summit aimed at promoting positive community role models among youths.
The Arkansas Department of Human Services and the Arkansas Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission will host the “Nonviolence Youth Summit 16: Remember Hoxie” as part of Arkansas State University’s Black History Month festivities.
Ethel Tompkins is the set to be the keynote speaker for Monday’s summit. Tompkins was a part of the Hoxie 21--a group of African American students who were integrated into the city’s school district in 1955, 2 years before the Little Rock Nine. She also became the first African American woman to graduate from Hoxie Public Schools.
According to an A-State press release, the mission of the nonviolence summit is to educate the youth of Arkansas “about professional development, [the] history of Arkansas, leadership, and crime prevention.”
The summit will be held at the A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union. Time and registration information is available on the KASU.org community calendar here.
