This Promise of Change: Parts 5–6

by Jo Ann Allen Boyce, Debbie Levy
In this autobiographical work, Jo Ann Allen Boyce recounts her experience of being one of the first Black children to integrate a public high school in Clinton, Tennessee, following desegregation in the late 1950s.


Here are links to our lists for the book: Introduction–Part 2, Parts 3–4, Parts 5–6, Part 7–Epilogue
30 words 11 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. throng
    a large gathering of people
    By car, this time, we travel down the Hill
    to face another day...another throng?
  2. zeal
    excessive fervor to do something or accomplish some end
    So many students absent; do they feel
    afraid, like us, of trouble—or the pull
    of trouble, hate, and segregation’s zeal?
  3. unfurl
    unroll, unfold, or spread out
    The noise—oh!—not mobs, but men with pens,
    reporters asking how our day unfurled.
  4. steep
    set at a high angle (of a slope)
    “They were brought to school in cars. However, when the session ended at 3:30 P.M. (4:30 New York time) seven of them walked home swinging their books and chatting gayly up the steep hill leading to the Negro settlement some 2,000 yards away.”
  5. appeal
    earnest or urgent request
    If your child has not been attending High School may we make this appeal to you to send your child back to school?
  6. constructive
    tending to improve or promote development
    The way of wisdom is the way of constructive thinking and loving hearts.
  7. agitator
    a political troublemaker
    “AGITATOR FIGHTS U.S. ORDER HERE: INFLUENCES PEOPLE TO DEFY LAW, THREATENS SCHOOL STUDENTS”
  8. prevailing
    most frequent or common
    Stoic determination and frightened silence were the prevailing attitudes today on ‘Foley Hill,’ the Negro settlement in Clinton.
  9. consolation
    the comfort you feel when soothed in times of disappointment
    "It’s the Sabbath and I’ve been to church
    to pray and seek consolation.
    I found my consolation there
    and don’t want to talk to anyone today.”
  10. endorse
    give support or one's approval to
    I think it makes no difference
    whether or not I endorse it.
  11. lukewarm
    feeling or showing little interest or enthusiasm
    ...the mayor is lukewarm
    on integration.
  12. substance
    the idea that is intended
    Another white girl, 16 and a senior, agreed in substance, but added: ‘I think it’s all right as long as there are only 12 of them, but if more come in—and you know there will be more—I think the county ought to build a high school for them.’
  13. spur
    incite or stimulate
    Decency rises
    Decency won
    Decency spurred
    by a soldier, a gun.
  14. ruckus
    the act of making a noisy disturbance
    So Bobby gets more of the bad—
    name-calling, threats, shoving, spitting.
    I know he thought of quitting
    during those first few days,
    but if the people who attacked him
    in the ruckus at the Richy Kreme
    thought they would scare him away,
    they were wrong.
  15. bound
    headed or intending to head in a certain direction
    Dizzying,
    to take off, Carol Peters and her mother and I,
    on an airplane bound for Washington, DC
  16. daunting
    discouraging through fear
    ...daunting,
    to know that the world is watching Clinton
    and will soon be watching us
    when we appear before cameras.
  17. bigwig
    the most important person in a group or undertaking
    Without the glare
    of the lights,
    without the supervision
    of the bigwigs,
    without the
    pound pound pounding
    my words are easier,
    more natural,
    more me
  18. demonstrator
    someone participating in a public display of group feeling
    Maybe thinking about all that—
    all that
    segregation, integration, law, courts,
    rights, prejudice, demonstrators—
    will be over too.
  19. caliber
    diameter of a tube or gun barrel
    The sheriff said Allen’s .38 caliber revolver had never been fired.
  20. hosiery
    socks, stockings, and tights collectively
    Negroes may work
    as janitors and maids,
    car washers and dishwashers,
    but not in good jobs
    at the hosiery mill
    or the cannery
    or in shops or offices
  21. rite
    any customary observance or practice
    Hundreds
    of people hooded in white.
    Burning
    four crosses, their sick rite.
  22. unscathed
    not injured
    And have we lost something good—
    some tenderness, some kindliness—
    by being so intent on getting through
    our days
    ourselves
    unscathed
  23. peril
    a state of danger involving risk
    I fear what they might do to me
    outside the classroom and
    unseen by teachers.
    Unpredictable and full of peril,
    lunchtime isn’t lunchtime,
    and the sooner I’m done
    not eating
    and back in a classroom,
    the better.
  24. thwart
    hinder or prevent, as an effort, plan, or desire
    “Mrs. Celadon Lewallen, Eagle Bend Road, thwarted an attempt to burn a cross in front of her home about 9 p.m., but one was burned about half an hour later in front of Mrs. Eleanor Davis’s home on South Main St.”
  25. indifference
    the trait of lacking enthusiasm for or interest in things
    Even if our smaller school
    has shed itself of the worst haters
    who can’t stand to breathe
    the same air as us,
    it is full of white kids
    who look through us, speak around us,
    wall us off with indifference;
    and those who started out friendly
    have pulled back.
  26. stoic
    seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive
    Silence.
    Not the stony kind,
    but the stoic kind,
    the silence that says
    we’ve said what we need to,
    we’ll carry on,
    let’s talk about something else.
  27. defiant
    boldly resisting authority or an opposing force
    ...her anger about the word colored,
    new and defiant;
    her anger that fends off fear,
    fearsome.
  28. burden
    a serious or difficult concern
    Sometimes when I walk
    or when I sit
    and it feels too hard,
    what we’re doing feels like a burden,
    so heavy,
    too much
  29. ditty
    a short simple song
    Is this the end of the ditty we all know and despise?

    If you’re white, you’re right.
    If you’re brown, stick around.
    If you’re black, get back.
  30. oppress
    come down on or keep down by unjust use of one's authority
    ...tanks and soldiers oppressing,
    tanks and soldiers uplifting.
Created on Tue Apr 19 09:27:23 EDT 2022 (updated Mon Apr 25 13:24:28 EDT 2022)

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