When I met Ruby Bridges, I had so many questions for her and was so curious about how it felt to have been the brave little girl whose actions changed the world. However, I thought that she probably wanted to rest her mind and her voice, so I didn’t say much on the drive to Harold Washington Library for the event.

When we arrived at the library and were escorted to a private room in a special exhibit on Chicago’s first Black mayor, Harold Washington, I recognized the significance of this moment. We were celebrating the anniversary of the desegregation of schools, in the most segregated city in the country, in a library honoring a Chicago mayor who won a historic election by bridging the divide between Black and Brown communities. Ruby was calm and quiet among the unspoken layers of historic meaning as we waited for the VIP reception to begin.

When we finally walked out to the reception everyone buzzed with excitement. There were several K1C Parent Advisory Board members in attendance, including a group of Spanish-speaking mothers. They were beyond excited to meet Ruby Bridges. I translated for them as they told her how much they loved and admired her and asked her to sign their copies of her children’s book. I was so moved by the warm welcome these mothers gave Ruby. Mothers like my own Mexican immigrant mother, who did not attend school in this country and who might struggle to see this history as her own.

Later, Ruby told me that she just learned a few years ago that during her first year at the all-white school in New Orleans, a Mexican family tried to enroll their daughter in the same school. She said there was a film that captured how the family was met by angry mobs that chased them home and threatened to kill them. The family had to eventually move away for safety. They were experiencing the same thing as her and her family but without the protection of U.S. Marshalls, without any protection. I had never heard that story.

Ruby taught me that this was even more my history than I thought and that it was also my mom’s history and that of all of our K1C parents; Black, Brown, Spanish speaking, English speaking, citizen and immigrant alike.

Ruby told this story on stage at the event during her interview with Daniel Anello, Kids First Chicago CEO. When she did, I turned to my team members and saw teary eyes and smiling faces because this is the work we do with parents. We strive for them to see themselves within each other’s stories. To see the similarities between not only their struggles but also their shared dreams and aspirations for their children and themselves. This is the work of solidarity building, that centers a person’s humanity over their ideology, which leads to parent power and ultimately to positive change.