The Rev. Maxine Allen
Photo Courtesy of Church and Society
General Board of Church and Society | March 19, 2025
On February 9, 1960, I was literally blown out of my bed. A bomb had been planted and exploded near the front door of Carlotta Walls’ (LaNier) home. Carlotta was 14 years old, the youngest of the nine Black students known as the Little Rock Nine, who were the first children to integrate Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Carlotta’s family lived at 1500 S. Valentine and my family lived at 1503 S. Valentine. No one was injured by the blast. Her mother Juanita and my mother Rubye S. Wilkerson worked together at the Little Rock Housing Authority.
When I was growing up in Little Rock, Arkansas, the women in my neighborhood came together and supported each other in times of trouble. Mrs. Allie Rice owned Red’s Pool Hall on Little Rock’s Historic West Ninth Street. Mrs. Rice made sure that children on our block got the extras that they needed (field trip money, costumes for Halloween or that pair of shoes their parents couldn’t afford). Mrs. Juanita Monts was the caterer of the neighborhood. Her homemade rolls, cakes, and spiced punch made all occasions special. Mrs. Buleah Beamon was the seamstress who also made “hair grease” to help maintain our natural and pressed hair. Mrs. Beamon’s grandson, Bob Beamon, would later become an Olympian winning the long jump event in the 1968 Mexico Olympics. Mrs. Margie Davis was the unofficial latch-key kid resource center.
Why do I list these women by name? These women are the hidden figures in my life that made my neighborhood a safe sanctuary for children. These women taught us such mundane things as etiquette and table place settings but forged a true ecumenical supportive community that allowed me to experience God in diverse settings. These women were Methodist, Catholic, Pentecostal and Baptist.
These women taught us that being neighborly meant more than just waving from your front porch. Being neighborly means showing up for each other in times of crisis. Being neighborly means helping each other stand up to discrimination in education, housing, and employment. Being neighborly means opening your home up to kids who lost their house-key. Being neighborly means bringing a covered dish once a week to the family whose father or mother lost their job. Being neighborly means going door to door to collect money when one son was falsely accused of bombing another neighbor’s house and showing up to testify in a racist courtroom. Being neighborly means going the second mile and third mile to make sure everyone has access to what they need.
Matthew 15:35-36 (NIV) For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
This is the neighborhood that I want to continue to live in! A neighborhood where all women and their families are valued!
Prologue: As a part of the 1960 bomb investigation, police arrested and beat Carlotta’s dad in an unsuccessful effort to coerce a confession. Herbert Monts, a family friend, after being held overnight and beaten, was charged with the bombing, convicted and eventually served almost five years for a crime that he didn’t commit. In November 2018, after more than 57 years, Monts was pardoned.