Wit, Will & Walls

I enjoyed this book. I had never heard of Betty Kilby Fisher prior to reading the book, but I agree that her story had to be told, preserved in book form and made available to the world. The bookcover photo says more than words could ever say. I highly recommend this book not only to adults, but to young adults (High School Age) also. The author selected a title that was very fitting.

I always feel funny passing an author sitting like a jack-in-the-box behind a stack of their books. Ms. Betty was peeking out and I just had to stick out my hand for a shake. We started talking like old friends, I bought the book and didn't expect too much. I cried and I laughed and I pondered at how similar we are and how brave that little girl in the story was. Mz. Betty tells all the family secrets and I bet she gets some grief for that! Remember those Rockem-Sockem Robots that get punched down and they pop back up? Well you can just insert Mz. Betty's pretty face 'cause she just keeps coming back. I enjoyed the actual transcript from the courtroom where you can read how the lawyers work the rules of law around the rules of justice. I enjoyed walking with her through her life and I got a hug too!

When thinking of a list of significant Civil Rights leaders, Betty Kilby Fisher's name may not immediately come to mind. However, the sacrifices that Betty and her family made are immeasurable because of their lasting impact on Virginia's public school systems. In WIT, WILL & WALLS Betty Kilby Fisher shares a brief snapshot of her life. In the beginning of the book she shares her family's background by telling about the early lives of both of her parents. This background information provides a backdrop for the rest of her story because it helps readers better understand the goals and aspirations of her parents as they shaped the lives of Betty and her siblings. Next, she relates stories of her early childhood. During this phase of the book the author not only sheds life on her family life, but she also paints a vivid portrait of what the African American community was like when she was young. One of the culminating points of the book begins when Betty is set to begin high school. Despite the fact that the Brown vs. Board of Education decision ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional, Betty's local high school in Warren County, Virginia remained segregated and black children were required to travel huge distances to attend Manassas Regional High School. At this point her father, along with others in the community, decides to take a stand and fight to desegregate the local school. The story doesn't end here though, as the author concludes the book with an overview of her adult life and the "battles" she had to continue fighting. There were times in the book where I felt that it seemed more like a public record because the author spent too much attention documenting the factual details of a particular event. I would have preferred more of her personal story and the emotions that she and those close to her experienced. These portions of the book interrupted the overall flow, caused the story to drag, and weakened the emotional intensity of the story. In spite of this, I enjoyed reading the book and felt like I learned a great deal of valuable lessons in morality, tenacity, and history. Being born and raised in Northern Virginia and having had many relatives attend Manassas Regional High School made this story more real to me and allowed it to touch me in a deeply personal way. I thank the author for sharing her painful yet triumphant story with readers. Reviewed by Stacey Seay of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Determination is a key element in Wit, Will & Walls by Betty Kilby Fisher. This autobiographic account of one woman's journey to success provides the reader with windows into various aspects of Valley life over a significant portion of the twentieth century. Many of those windows reveal a not so pleasant view.One pivotal event in Ms. Fisher's life was being the named infant plaintiff in the 1958 civil action that brought about integration of the Warren County school system. Faced with the choice of having his 13 year old daughter board in Manassas or take a sixty-mile per day bus trip to high school in Berryville, her father elected to enroll her at Warren County High School. The ensuing court battle on behalf of Betty and twenty-two other black students led to the suspension of classes at the high school. Reaction to the suit was mixed in both the black and white communities. When the school was ordered to reopen in February 1959, 21 of the black students registered. No white students registered or attended Warren County High School during the rest of that term. As described in Wit, Will & Walls this was almost a relief from the tensions everyone had been living with for so long. The court battle and general attitude were not the only things the Kilby family had to deal with. Harassment, gunshots through the kitchen window, and loss of job security were all part of the picture. Ms. Fisher credits her father's will and determination for getting them through these trials. And the trials did not end in 1959.While integration is the most publicly notable event described in the book, there is much more. The book spends time with the Kilby and Ausberry family histories of the early 1900's and with Betty's constant struggle to succeed after high school. The earthy tone of the writing style in the early parts of Wit, Will & Walls helps to bring the reader closer to the reality of life during those years. The effect of one person's life experience on the next generation is clearly evident. As is the determination necessary to overcome the obstacles still present for blacks for many years after the schools were integrated.Despite all the roadblocks, Ms. Fisher managed to succeed through her own efforts. She was aided by her father's example, family support, and the strength of her faith. Her current title is CEO of Cultural Innovations, which she started in 2001. The mission of Cultural Innovations is "to provide businesses, organizations, schools and individuals with Cultural Education products and services. The products, a book titled "Wit, Will, and Walls" traces the life of an infant plaintiff in the integration of the schools in rural Virginia in the 60's. The Products also include personalized children's books and calendars. The services provided by Cultural Innovations Inc., include Motivational Speaking, Cultural Audit, Diversity Training and Facilitation of Cultural Interaction. We will work with our clients to examine ba

My wife and I alternately laughed and cried through the winter Saturday we read this book aloud to one another. "Wit, Will and Walls" is the first book I've encountered that successfully conveys what it actually FELT like to be one of the the African American children to break the apartheid grip of Jim Crow on schools in the American South. Betty Fisher's honest, heartfelt style is totally without pretense, and conveys all the conflicts, fears and courage of the young African American children who, sometimes against their will, were selected to take part in that dramatic moment in history.Fisher's voice is so authentic that it will do no harm for me to tell you a bit of what it covers:Fisher was 14 years old in 1959 when she walked into the all white Warren County High School in Front Royal, Va., with the first young blacks ever to enter those doors. For many months the black students attended school alone while whites boycotted it. Along the line, the Kilbys withstood terrors ranging from mutilation of the family's animals by white thugs, shots fired through the Kilby home. The Kilby family struggle had started long before 1959, when her father, family patriarch James Kilby, took on Old Virginia's deeply rooted racist system. Like his father before him, James Kilby had been raised in what can only be called inter-generational semi-slavery on a farm in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Ultimately, James Kilby stood up and led his family on their journey through terror, isolation and repeated defeats toward victory in a U.S. Supreme Court decision and educational opportunity for his children equal to that of white society. Author Betty Kilby went on to change the management policy of Rubbermaid Corporation, and a successful management career in the airline industry. Sorrowing, yet often humorous, Fisher manages to covey the warmth and joy and hopefullness that also peremated her family's life, even amid the tumult of the times. It is more than just her autobiography. What makes the book special is that it is also a family saga still in progress. It is an American epic spanning generations of Kilbys, with many frank forays into such areas as the "kitchen babies," sired by her family's white bosses, right up to the heartbreak of her own daughter's addiction to crack cocaine. In all likelihood, most readers have never taken such an authentic journey, or met a warmer, more honest spokesperson for that dramatic era which so changed America.