They used to call Arkansas 'the land of opportunity,' and black people said, 'Opportunity for whom? Today, we can say 'opportunity for all,' and Arkansas can be proud of this moment.

We were really ordinary people and we really owe a debt of gratitude to (their adviser) Daisy Bates and to our parents.

We realized in 1957 that this was not an easy journey. It was one in which we thought we were simply exercising our right to the best education that was available in Little Rock, Arkansas.