Melba’s closest friend in the Little Rock Nine, Minnijean lives one block away from Melba. They see each other nearly every day and share a lot in common, including a love for the singers Johnny Mathis and Nat King Cole, as well as desires to be singers themselves. Minnijean is expelled due to a series of cafeteria incidents, instigated by white boys who were taunting her. With the NAACP’s funding, she later moves to New York and attends New Lincoln School.
Minnijean Brown Quotes in Warriors Don’t Cry
The Warriors Don’t Cry quotes below are all either spoken by Minnijean Brown or refer to Minnijean Brown. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 11
Quotes
As Minnijean and I spent time together that evening, I could tell she was beginning to be deeply affected by what was being done to her at Central High. She seemed especially vulnerable to the isolation we were all struggling to cope with. She had decided she would be accepted by white students if she could just show them how beautifully she sang. She was almost obsessed with finding an opportunity to perform her music on stage [….] Little did we know that even while we were discussing her performing in school programs, the Central High Mother’s League was preparing to make a bigger fuss than ever before to exclude her. But their threats did not stop Minnijean [….] Did she figure they would be enraptured by her performance? I shuddered at the thought of what the students would say or do to her if she made it.
Related Characters:Melba Pattillo Beals (speaker), Minnijean Brown, Mrs. Clyde Thomason
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
130
Explanation and Analysis:
Minnijean has come over to Melba’s house to show off photos of them and the other members of the Little Rock Nine in the week’s issues of major magazines, including Life magazine. Minnijean then tells Melba about her plan to become a part of Central High’s Christmas program. She thinks that her singing talent will cause the white students to look past her race and accept her. Minnijean seems to believe that white society is accepting of black people who reveal an extraordinary quality, such as the talent to entertain, though this does not prove to be true for her. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor
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Minnijean Brown Character Timeline in Warriors Don’t Cry
The timeline below shows where the character Minnijean Brown appears in Warriors Don’t Cry. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...Ernest Green, the eldest, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, Elizabeth Eckford, Thelma Mothershed, Melba’s “special friend” Minnijean Brown, Carlotta Walls, and Gloria Ray. They all come from strict families whose parents hold...
(full context)
Chapter 4
Minnijean Brown calls and asks where Melba was when the students tried to enter Central earlier...
(full context)
Chapter 8
...them smile and nod at her. She worries that people see her differently. Thelma and Minnijean also inspect the soldiers. Other students mill about and Melba wonders what they are waiting...
(full context)
Chapter 11
...a talk with segregationist student leaders, organized by the Norwegian reporter, Mrs. Jorumn Rickets. Ernie, Minnijean, and Melba sit down with Sammy Dean Parker, who was in the newspaper hugging Governor...
(full context)
Minnijean Brown goes to Melba’s house in November to show a picture of Melba in Life...
(full context)
...to maintain order allows for a deal with the federal government not to prosecute segregationists. Minnijean remains focused on trying to perform in the Christmas show. When Minnijean tries to register,...
(full context)
Chapter 12
...are rumors of training programs to “sharpen the skills of hooligans inside the school.” Meanwhile, Minnijean wages a second battle to appear with the choral group in the Christmas program. Thelma...
(full context)
Minnijean is the only member of the Little Rock Nine whom Melba invites to her birthday...
(full context)
...go to the cafeteria for lunch, which is always hazardous. Tuesday is chili day, which Minnijean loves. As she tries to get out of line, a group of boys blocks her...
(full context)
Chapter 13
By dumping chili all over the boy, intentionally or not, Minnijean opens a door for the segregationists to try to push them all out. One early...
(full context)
...back,” maintaining the best attitude she can at school, and being a better friend to Minnijean to help her remain in school.
(full context)
Chapter 14
The first days of school in the new year are “frightening” because, without Minnijean, members of the Little Rock Nine think that any of them could be suspended next....
(full context)
...when she does not want him to. Each day, Grandma India and Melba pray for Minnijean’s strength. On Thursday, February 6, Minnijean is attacked again by the boy who dumped soup...
(full context)
Minnijean is officially expelled after a forty-minute hearing. NAACP officials arrange for her to attend a...
(full context)
Chapter 18
On May 29, eight members of the Little Rock Nine, not including Minnijean, go to Chicago to get an award conferred by the Chicago Defender, a black newspaper....
(full context)