Would You Cry? 150-250

By this point in Warriors Don't Cry  Melba and the rest of the Patillo's have continued in unison giving Melba full support. Thanksgiving has arrived and the Patillos share their holiday with Mrs.Bates who invites them all for dinner. In addition, the Little Rock Nine have been at Central High for twelve weeks continuing integration. However, these poor students are still ostracized from the activities occurring at the school and deprived from even speaking to their classmates. Furthermore, Melba is turning 16 and detests the realization  she is a student at Central High School where racism and injustice haunt her everyday. Melba dreamed of the perfect sweet sixteen almost like a wedding, full of joy, and excitement.  Moreover, Melba was nearly killed by a pugnacious White boy named Danny. Danny kicked and taunted Melba for many days. Melba saved herself from Danny and his crew almost to late. In addition, Melba's teachers questioned  her many times whether she desired to be White or continue being Black. Melba was indifferent of the dangers she could have got herself in and boldly spoke back. In other words, predicaments at Central  have exacerbated. In fact, Melba senses fear even in her own household. In the Cosmopolitan Newspapers, the Little Rock Nine have been scapegoated and profiled. As a result, many bigots have located the homes of the nine and have threatened to murder their families and bomb their homes.

Quote:
"You hit back every day you get through. You kick them every week you get through. And if you make it through the year, you've hit them with the biggest blow of all"(Patillo 210).

Reaction:
This quote completely depicts the strength and bond held within the Patillo family. Although Melba questions her efforts on trying to get a good education in a racist school, she knows she has to keep on. At only the age of sixteen Melba is forced to prevail through immense altercations to make history and to better herself. Furthermore, grandmother India in this quote symbolizes solace and leadership. If Melba did not have the support of India and her other folks, she probably wouldn't have made it through Central. Personally as a sixteen year old myself, I probably would not have made it through the gloating and menacing Melba did. I embody and believe in the Malcolm X mantra and thus would probably not survived this time period in History where people of color had no say or rights. On the other hand, Melba went by Gandhi's ideology of resolving conflicts with peace and social justice. Overall, it takes more then just a warrior to endure through what Melba did and we can prove by this point in the book that Warriors Don't Cry.