Miami-Dade students honor civil rights activists Ruby Bridges by participating in Walk to School Day event

South Florida students are taking part in the annual Walk to School Day to honor the courageous and historic act Ruby Bridge made by being the first African-American child to attend a former Whites-only school in New Orleans.

In 1960, 6-year-old Ruby Bridges made history when she was escorted by federal marshals to Williams Frantz Elementary school amid a desegregation crisis in the South.

64 years later, Bridges’ valor is still being celebrated throughout the world and here in South Florida, with many students consciously putting themselves in her shoes and opting to walk to school and mediate on the heroic act.

The Ruby Bridges Walk in Liberty City invited parents, students, staff, and community members to march together from Holmes Elementary school to Miami Northwestern Senior High school.

However, the point of Thursday’s event was a two-fold, the first reason was to celebrate Bridges and the second was to host a Math Matters rally to shed light on the educational disparities many face today.

According to Miami-Dade schools, 60% of students in lower income neighborhoods face significant challenges in math proficiency.

The Miami-Dade Economic Advocacy Trust is working to change that by hosting the rally, which is certainly a message Ruby Bridges would support as she’s gone on to create the Ruby Bridges Foundation which promotes diversity, respect, and equal opportunity.

“None of our babies are born knowing anything about racism. Each and every one of our babies come into the world with a very special gift: that’s a clean heart and a fresh start in life. We as adults we take that away. On the back of the book, the slogan from my foundation is: Racism is a grownup disease, lets stop using our kids to spread it,” said Bridges in an interview.