EVERY STONE HAS A SONG: Mansfield’s Long Road from Rejection to Representation. By Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr.

EVERY STONE HAS A SONG: Mansfield’s Long Road from Rejection to Representation. By Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr.

History must be told carefully.

Especially when we are celebrating how far we have come.

In August 1956—before Little Rock—Mansfield High School became the site of Texas’ first major confrontation over school desegregation after Brown v. Board of Education. Black students attempted to enroll under a federal court order. A mob formed. Effigies were hung. Public resistance was loud and unapologetic.

Let us be clear:

Mansfield did not close its high school.

But Mansfield did resist.

Mansfield did reject.

Mansfield did refuse to comply with constitutional mandates and federal court orders.

And that resistance continued until 1965.

That was Mansfield’s stone.

A hard stone.

A heavy stone.

A historic stone.

Meanwhile, one year later in 1957, it was Little Rock Central High School that became nationally known when the Little Rock Nine were escorted by federal troops amid a crisis that led to the school’s temporary closure.

The national spotlight often skips over Mansfield.

But Mansfield was first.

And today, Mansfield is proving that being first in resistance does not mean being frozen in it.

From Refusal to Representation

Seventy years after that constitutional confrontation, Mansfield now stands in a remarkably different place.

The city is led by Mayor Michael Evans.

The Mansfield ISD Board of Trustees is presided over by Dr. Benita Reed.

And the district has appointed its first Black superintendent, Dr. Tiffanie Spencer.

Pause.

In 1956, Black students were denied access to equitable education.

In 2026, Black leadership stands at the helm of city hall and the school district.

That is not erasure of history.

That is evolution of history.

The Meaning of the Stones

Joshua 4 tells us that when future generations ask, “What do these stones mean?” we must tell them the full story.

Tell them Mansfield resisted.

Tell them Mansfield refused to follow court orders for nearly a decade.

Tell them the Constitution was tested here.

But also tell them that Mansfield learned.

Tell them that growth is possible—even after public failure.

Tell them that cities, like people, can repent, reform, and rise.

Because today, Mansfield is not defined solely by 1956.

It is also defined by 2026.

A Remarkable Song

A Black mayor guiding civic leadership.

A Black school board president shaping governance.

A Black superintendent directing the academic future of thousands of children.

That is not symbolic progress.

That is structural change.

It is the visible fruit of generational perseverance—of families who stayed, invested, organized, prayed, and believed that one day the system would reflect the full community it serves.

The stones that once symbolized obstruction now testify to opportunity.

And what a remarkable song Mansfield is singing now.

From resistance to representation.

From refusal to responsibility.

From defiance to diversity in leadership.

Seventy years later, Mansfield is writing one of the most powerful chapters in its history.

Not because the past has been forgotten.

But because it has been confronted—and transcended.

Congratulations, Mansfield.

You have come a mighty long way.

And every stone along the way still has a song.

About the Author

Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr. is a Fort Worth-based faith leader, historian, and community advocate whose work centers on restoring untold chapters of American history and connecting them to present-day civic transformation. A graduate of the University of North Texas School of Community Service, he serves as Senior Pastor of New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church and President of the Ministers Justice Coalition of Texas.

Pastor Tatum is the creator of Before Little Rock: The Constitutional Crisis at Mansfield High School in 1956, a historic public education initiative documenting Mansfield’s role as the first Southern school district to resist federal desegregation orders after Brown v. Board of Education. Through research, public exhibits, and civic dialogue, the project ensures that Mansfield’s 1956 confrontation is remembered accurately and responsibly.

He is also the author of Hung Before Dawn: The Story of the 24th Infantry in 1917, a historical examination of the Houston Mutiny and the tragic execution of Black soldiers from the 24th Infantry Regiment following racial violence and injustice during World War I. That work confronts one of the most sobering military injustices in American history and calls for remembrance, reconciliation, and dignity.

Across sermons, exhibitions, and editorials, Pastor Tatum’s work is guided by a singular conviction:

History is not merely to be studied.

It is to be stewarded.

And every stone—if lifted carefully enough—still has a song.