Marvin Jones, at the age of 75, finds it astonishing to be back at his old high school, accompanied by a limousine, a marching band, and a red carpet. Reflecting on the past, he never thought he would return to the Virginia school he left in 1966, making a personal promise to himself to avoid it entirely. This decision was made during a different era, a time when schools in the South were undergoing desegregation, and his school in Lawrenceville, Virginia, was no exception. Jones was among the brave 15 children who took their first, arduous steps into the building.
Jones vividly recalls the hostile atmosphere of those days. “On the bus, students would bring KKK flyers,” he recounted. “When I would come down the hall, they would close their noses and say ‘Here comes a skunk.’ I felt as if I had leprosy.” His fellow students, including Yvonne Stewart, Vernal Cox, Sandra Goldman, Rosa Stith, Queen Marks, Joyce Walker, India Walker, Florence Stith, Elvertha Cox, Cecelia Mason, Carolyn Burwell, Beatrice Malone, Barbara Evans, and Ashton Thurman, faced similar experiences.
Even after many decades, these painful memories continued to haunt Jones. In a quest for healing, he decided to put his emotions on paper and wrote heartfelt letters to the very students who had tormented him. In one of these letters, Jones expressed how he left the school “very bitter” due to the relentless verbal abuse he endured on a daily basis. He penned a total of 90 such letters, pouring out his anguish and emotions, whether or not his former classmates were willing to listen. While most of his letters went unanswered, one letter he sent had a different impact.
Paul Fleshood, one of the few students who had never bullied Jones or uttered an unkind word, was deeply moved by the letter he received. Jones had written about the days when he had wanted to strike up a conversation with Fleshood and believed they could have been friends. Fleshood sensed that Jones was attempting to open a door, and he decided to walk through it. Their friendship blossomed, and last week, Fleshood, along with other community leaders, organized a ceremony to celebrate the “Brunswick 15.” They welcomed these students, who had once been treated as untouchables, with open arms.
This ceremony marked a poignant moment for Jones, as he returned to the school where he claimed not to have experienced a single good day as a student. “It means a lot,” Jones expressed. “It means that we have overcome a lot. And I appreciate that.”