Ruby Bridges Foundation Essay: The Ruby Bridges Foundation

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‘Be Strong - Be Outspoken Like Ruby’
Ruby Bridges is recognized all around the country for her courage as the first African- American student to attend an integrated school, however there is so much more to Ruby’s past and determined personality.

As a lecturer, Ruby brings her message to children and adults nationwide. She established the Ruby Bridges Foundation to promote the values of tolerance, respect and appreciation of all differences through educational programs. A major focus of the foundation has been a program called Ruby’s Bridges, which connects students, parents, and educators from different racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. The goal of the program is to build lasting relationships, which will allow individuals to transcend their differences and achieve racial reconciliation. One of the strategies of Ruby’s Bridges is to involve students in service learning projects that foster a sense of community responsibility. From planting trees and caring for the environment at state parks to working with others in need, the program has provided students with the skills to collaborate on meaningful causes. The ultimate goal of the foundation is to move first our children and then our society as a whole toward the elimination of racism and prejudice. Ruby promotes equality. Her goal is that on a local and national level there is racial equity.
As a result of her courage and determination to desegregate schools bringing about equality for all, the Ruby Bridges Foundation was expanded. It started first with a few classes afterschool. Multicultural programs, ballet and African classes, were soon followed by classes on manners and etiquette. Her hope was to bring quality programs to inner-city schools so the...

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...now she could really find her purpose.
Ruby Bridges patience, obedience and faithfulness gave her hope for a better future for her brother’s children.
“I tell them that another important thing I learned in first grade was schools could be a place to bring people together - kids of all races and backgrounds. That’s the work I focus on now, connecting our children through their schools. Its my way of continuing what God set in motion forty years ago when He led me up the steps of William Frantz Public School and into a new world with my teacher, Mrs. Henry-- a world that under His protection has reached far beyond just the two of us in that classroom.” (Bridges) With the right guidance plus the right attitude anyone can go somewhere in life. It doesn’t matter where anyone is headed as long as the necessary steps are taken, which results in guaranteed success.

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