Students, lawmakers, and activists celebrate the nonviolence philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. while honoring the Hoxie school integration at the 16th Annual Nonviolence Youth Summit at Arkansas State University.
The theme of Monday's summit was “Remember Hoxie.”
DuShun Scarbrogh, Arkansas Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission CEO, explains to the youth in attendance the reason for honoring Hoxie:
Ethel Tompkins served as the keynote speaker for the summit. Tompkins was the first African American woman to graduate from Hoxie Public Schools.
She was also a part of “Hoxie: The First Stand”—a group of African American students who were involved in the first school integration in 1955, 2 years before Little Rock.
Tompkins tells KASU news they are working to spread the word about the Hoxie integration by changing the name which defined the event:
Tompkins also said a project is in the works to turn the former one-classroom building in Hoxie to a national museum to commemorate the integration.
She also shared the stage with Activist Annie Abrams who was involved with Little Rock’s desegregation and the renaming of various streets to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Daisy Bates.
The youth summit was sponsored by the Arkansas Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, the Arkansas Department of Human Services, the Delta Regional Authority, and A-State.
