Little Rock Nine American civil rights leader arrives in New Zealand

Elizabeth Eckford ignores the hostile screams and stares of fellow students on her first day of school at Little Rock Central High. Photo / Bettmann Archive

An American civil rights activist and one of the famous Little Rock Nine is in New Zealand to speak to high schoolers about civil rights - and how they too, can change the world.

Minnijean Brown Trickey was 15 when she and eight other African-American students attempted to go to a segregated all-white school on September 4, 1957.

Her friend, Elizabeth Eckford, missed a last-minute memo for the nine to arrive at the school by bus; opting to walk to the front gates of Little Rock Central High School instead.

A photo of a 15-year-old Eckford surrounded by an angry mob as she walks to school is one of the most famous images of the Black Civil Rights era.

Brown Trickey, now 76, is in New Zealand to speak to students at Alfriston College and Rutherford High School, in Auckland.

"I'm really fortunate to have been part of a social justice action 60 years ago.

"To me, it's a story of teenagers and what they're capable of, how thoughtful they are. I hope it's an inspirational story for young people no matter where."

The Little Rock Nine would endure months of racist remarks and physical abuse from fellow students.

They were spat at, yelled at and pushed and shoved in the corridors for being black.

Asked what stuck in her mind the most that first day, she said it was the sight of the hate-filled mob that changed something in her.

"It taught me instantly that I would be a non-violent person. It was horrible...I was scared to death, but it was an amazing learning experience."

She hoped young Kiwis could still connect to her story and find some inspiration in her words - not only to learn from her experiences, but feel the need to be better people.

"It isn't a story of New Zealand, but it's a human story. The story has some morality to it - do you want to be part of a mob, not thinking? Do you want to be a person who sees things and says nothing?"

Brown Trickey was invited by Alfriston College's Roydon Agent, a history teacher who first met the activist when he was studying in the US about 10 years ago.

Brown Trickey acknowledged it was important for young people to know that their views and words matter; referring to recent comments made by US rapper Kanye West, who called 400 years of slavery "a choice.''

"Oh my God. Boycott Kanye because he's an idiot.

"I do talk about that to some extent - people who make a lot of money and who lose contact with who they really are do a great deal of damage to young people."