Girl proves tolerance can build Bridges
Sandburg 6th-grader was inspired by story of civil rights figure
BY JESSICA SMITH
Staff Writer

Kristen Johnson, of Old Bridge, holds a copy of Ruby Bridges' autobiography, "Through My Eyes." In the background is a painting of Carl Sandburg.

OLD BRIDGE - Although the two are separated by generations, 11-year-old Kristen Johnson and 53-year-old activist Ruby Bridges share at least one common bond.

Both seek to spread tolerance and eradicate racism.

"It kind of hurts me, and I feel her pain sometimes, but the experiences she went through were much worse," Kristen said. "Ruby Bridges' story is very powerful."

Bridges found Kristen's story pretty powerful as well.

The sixth-grader at Carl Sandburg Middle School wrote a letter that was hand-picked by Bridges as one of 25 winners of the Arrow Book Club's "Dear Ruby Bridges" National Letter Writing Contest. Chosen from 15,000 entries received by Scholastic Inc., Kristen's letter spoke of the fear that can come from dealing with racism.

Kristen said she has dealt with racism herself, with her father, Joe, being African-American, and her mother, Frankie, being Caucasian. Despite her negative experiences, it seems that greater diversity has helped to quash some ignorant views that were held in the past, Kristen said.

"I think it's not as bad as it was, but it's still out there," Kristen said. "I think people should know that it hurts the other person when people say bad things about them just because of their skin color. I think that the people who are hurt should realize that maybe it's not the person's fault, that maybe they learned it from their parents or something."

Kristen said she admired, among other things, the fact that Bridges prayed for those who were speaking out against her. In 1960, when Bridges was 6 years old, she was the first African-American student to attend an all-white school in Louisiana. Despite negative backlash and a year-long boycott of the school, Bridges initiated the integration of public schools in the state.

Sally Fazio, a language arts and literacy teacher at Sandburg, decided to get her students involved in the contest as an activity for Black History Month in February. The class read "The Story of Ruby Bridges" by Robert Coles, as well as Bridges' autobiography, "Through My Eyes."

"We talked about the different experiences Ruby Bridges had to go through," Fazio said. "Because she was of school age and she was young, it was really something the children could relate to."

Fazio said the students were especially affected by a photograph of a protester outside the school Bridges attended, holding a miniature coffin with a black baby doll inside.

In her letter, Kristen wrote about a time when she was very young, and feared sleeping in the dark because of imaginary monsters. She compared the experience to the fear Bridges must have felt walking into the school where she was faced with adversity.

"You went through a similar situation, except your monsters were real," Kristen wrote. "I do not know how you summed up the power to walk by those mobs of people. You have opened my eyes through your book."

Kristen said she was surprised and excited to find out her letter had been selected, as she had never won a contest before.

"When I read Kristen's letter, I knew instantly how fabulous it was," Fazio said. "She's such a great writer."

Writing comes naturally to Kristen, who said she often pens fantasy stories in her leisure time. She also attended the Middlesex County Arts Middle School for writing this year, a program open to gifted middle school students who are admitted through an audition process. She said she hopes to someday write fantasy novels, or become a journalist.

"If you write about things you believe in, then you can really get noticed for it," Kristen said.

Not only did Kristen get noticed for her outstanding letter, she also received a signed copy of "Through My Eyes," personalized stationery, and a return letter from Bridges. For her classroom, she won a diversity library, consisting of 30 books with authors and characters from a multitude of ethnicities.

"[It] made us all so proud," Fazio said.