by John A. Stokes
National Geographic Society127 pages
Students on Strike opens with John Stokes hiding in water retention ditches because his parents wanted to make sure he wasn’t harmed by white people as he found his way home at night. John lived in Prince Edward County close to Farmville, Virginia in the 1940’s and 50’s. He recently decided that it was time to tell the story of how he and his classmates ended desegregation at their high school. Eventually their cause was heard before the U.S. Supreme because it was combined with the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education by the NAACP lawyers. The story is an example of courage and massive resistance that resulted in many Virginia schools being closed rather than desegregated for up to five years.
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