Audiobooks by Lisa Frazier Page

A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School

When fourteen-year-old Carlotta Walls walked up the stairs of Little Rock Central High School on September 25, 1957, she and eight other black students only wanted to make it to class. But the journey of the “Little Rock Nine,” as they came to be known, would lead the nation on an even longer and much more turbulent path, one that would challenge prevailing attitudes, break down barriers, and forever change the landscape of America. Descended from a line of proud black landowners and businessmen, Carlotta was raised to believe that education was the key to success. She embraced learning and excelled in her studies at the black schools she attended throughout the 1950s. With Brown v. Board of Education erasing the color divide in classrooms across the country, the teenager volunteered to be among the first black students–of whom she was the youngest–to integrate nearby Central High School, considered one of the nation’s best academic institutions. But for Carlotta and her eight comrades, simply getting through the door was the first of many trials. Angry mobs of white students and their parents hurled taunts, insults, and threats. Arkansas’s governor used the National Guard to bar the black students from entering the school. Finally, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was forced to send in the 101st Airborne to establish order and escort the Nine into the building. That was just the start of a heartbreaking three-year journey for Carlotta, who would see her home bombed, a crime for which her own father was a suspect and for which a friend of Carlotta’s was ultimately jailed–albeit wrongly, in Carlotta’s eyes. But she persevered to the victorious end: her graduation from Central. Breaking her silence at last and sharing her story for the first time, Carlotta Walls has written an inspiring, thoroughly engrossing memoir that is not only a testament to the power of one to make a difference but also of the sacrifices made by families and communities that found themselves a part of history. A Mighty Long Way shines a light on this watershed moment in civil rights history and shows that determination, fortitude, and the ability to change the world are not exclusive to a few special people but are inherent within us all.

Carlotta Walls Lanier, Lisa Frazier Page (Author), Carlotta Walls Lanier (Narrator)

Audiobook

Living and Dying in Brick City: An E.R. Doctor Returns Home

A riveting personal exploration of the health-care crisis facing inner-city communities, written by an emergency room physician who grew up in the very neighborhood he is now serving Sampson Davis is best known as one of three friends from inner-city Newark who made a pact in high school to become doctors. Their book The Pact and the work they have done with the Three Doctors Foundation have inspired countless young men and women to strive for goals they otherwise would not have dreamed they could attain. In this book, Dr. Davis looks at the health-care crisis in the inner city from a rare perspective: that of a doctor who works on the front line of emergency medical care in the community where he grew up and as a member of that community who has faced the same challenges as the people he treats every day. He also offers invaluable practical advice for those living in such communities, where conditions like asthma, heart disease, strokes, obesity, and AIDS are disproportionately endemic. Dr. Davis has struggled with many of the issues troubling his patients. His sister, a drug addict, died of AIDS; his brother is now paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair as a result of a bar fight; and he himself did time in juvenile detention-a wake-up call that changed his life. He recounts recognizing a young man with critical gunshot wounds as someone who was arrested with him when he was a teenager during a robbery gone bad, describes a patient with sickle cell anemia whose case is more complicated than he understands, and explains the difficulty he has convincing his landlord and friend, an older woman, to go to the hospital for much-needed treatment. With empathy and hard-earned wisdom, Living and Dying in Brick City presents an urgent picture of medical care in our cities and an important resource guide for anyone at risk, anyone close to those at risk, and anyone who cares about the fate of our cities. "This book is living proof that behind the boarded up windows of one of America's most neglected cities, beyond the sorrow and pain, there is much more than we've come to expect. There is hope. There is change. There is redemption for Brick City. The book will open your eyes to a part of the world that most of us only see from behind the wheel of a tightly locked car. Sampson Davis is not afraid to lift heavy objects in this world. I'm glad he shared his journey with us, so that we know it is possible."-James McBride, New York Times bestselling author of The Color of Water

Lisa Frazier Page, Sampson Davis (Author), Cary Hite (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream

George Jenkins, Sampson Davis and Rameck Hunt were three African American kids living in the inner city of Newark, all from broken homes, all living amid poverty, crime, and drug abuse. Two served time in juvenile detention centers. They met in high school and together they made a pact: they would support each other for as long as it would take for them to become doctors. Through an affirmative action program, they enrolled at Seton Hall University's premed program, from which they graduated in 1995. In May 1999, they graduated with degrees in medicine and dentistry. The Pact is an extraordinary testament to the power of male friendship. Friendships among young men often revolved around taking risks, often unnecessary or even dangerous risks. This remarkable story teaches the power of friendship and proves the wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King's proposition that amazing things happen when we "stand on the solid rock of brotherhood." The three supported each other through high school, college, and medical school. Their success, which was due to unwavering, mutual support, shows that young men can help each other avoid trouble and fulfill their dreams by using their strong friendship as a powerful antidote to the temptations and pitfalls of inner-city life.

George Jenkins, Lisa Frazier Page, Rameck Hunt, Sampson Davis (Author), George Jenkins, Sampson Davis (Narrator)

Audiobook