When Melba Pattillo Beals was 15 years-old, she was one of the youngest leaders of the Civil Rights movement as she helped integrate her high school in Little Rock, Arkansas. She kept a diary of her experiences: walking the gauntlet between classes, avoiding slaps and insults as well as experiencing the kindness of strangers who came to her aid, and kept her alive. During the long school year, she wrote about what it was like to get up every morning “and go off to war.” Her mother’s words gave her courage, “Make this day the best you can.”