"She was a role model for youth–a motivator, an inspiration…She showed the importance and power of one person. Individuals such as Daisy Bates can make a difference."
-Reverend Leroy James (escorted Nine to Central and took care of Daisy in her old age)
-Reverend Leroy James (escorted Nine to Central and took care of Daisy in her old age)
Daisy Bates' Inspiration
"You're filled with hatred. Hate can destroy you, Daisy. Don't hate white people just because they're white. Hate the humiliations we live under in the South. Hate the discrimination that eats away every black man and woman. Hate the insults. And then try to do something about it."
-Daisy Bates' adoptive father
-Daisy Bates' adoptive father
Impacted by her mother’s rape and murder by white men, and inspired by her adoptive father’s words, Daisy Bates felt the responsibility to dedicate her life to social activism. After marrying L.C. Bates in the early 1940s, they founded “The State Press,” a newspaper advocating civil rights. In 1952, Daisy Bates became president of the Arkansas chapter of the NAACP, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
At the height of the Little Rock crisis, in August 1957, Daisy's home was attacked with a rock and threatening note: "'The next will be dynamite.' - K.K.K."