Thirteen Names on a Courthouse Filing

On February 28, 1951, thirteen parents in Topeka, Kansas filed a lawsuit in federal court that would reshape the nation. Their complaint named the Board of Education of the City of Topeka, challenging the segregation of the city's elementary schools. Listed first among them was Oliver Brown — a welder at the Santa Fe Railroad shops and an assistant pastor at St. Mark AME Church.

Brown was no activist by profession. He was a working man who preached on Sundays and welded rail cars during the week. But when the NAACP's Topeka chapter asked local parents to stand as plaintiffs, Brown and twelve others agreed. They knew what it could cost — public scrutiny, employer retaliation, neighbors turning cold. In 1951 Kansas, challenging the established order was not a safe decision.

Three years later, on May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated public schools were unconstitutional. A welder and assistant pastor from Topeka had lent his name to one of the most consequential legal decisions in American history.

The prophet Micah wrote that the Lord requires His people "to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." Notice the verb: act. Not feel strongly about justice. Not hope someone else pursues it. Act. Oliver Brown and twelve fellow parents understood this. They signed their names when silence would have been easier.