Green interviewed on 50th anniversary of Little Rock integration

This year marks the 50-year anniversary of the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., one of the civil rights events students in my communication arts classes at South Middle School study each year.
Today's Washington Post features a profile and interview of Ernest Green, the first African American student to graduate from Central High School:

He spends his days negotiating multimillion-dollar deals as managing director of public finance for Wall Street stalwart Lehman Brothers with clients including the City of New York and the State of Connecticut. He has a big house in Northwest Washington, "a beautiful wife, three wonderful kids" and a lot of gratitude for the circumstances that catapulted him from segregated Little Rock into U.S. history as one of nine students to integrate Central High School 50 years ago today.

"It has been a tremendous boost for me," said Green, who turned 66 on Saturday. "It provided me with opportunities I never would have otherwise had. I had a tremendous window into the last half of 20th century."

Green returned to his home town this weekend for events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of Central High. Five decades ago, Green and eight other students were escorted into the school by the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division under orders from President Dwight Eisenhower after Gov. Orval Faubus used the state's National Guard to block the integration effort.