Warriors Don't Cry is a nonfiction memoir published by Melba Pattillo Beals in 1994. The book is set in the 1950s and 1960s, using entries from Beals' diary to recount her experiences as part of the Little Rock Nine, a group of nine African American high school students who desegregated Little Rock Central High School in 1957. In addition to recounting the physical violence, emotional and verbal abuse, and opposition from the Arkansas government that Beals endured, Warriors Don't Cry also describes Beals' experiences with institutional racism throughout her early childhood into adulthood.
Warriors Don't Cry was the runner-up for the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, which honors "outstanding reporting" on human rights issues and justice. The book was also named the American Library Association (ALA) Notable Book for 1995. The book received positive reviews from major outlets, including the New York Times and the Washington Post. Beals' memoir inspired many artists across various media; in 2008, Read magazine adapted Warriors Don't Cry into a play; in 2021, Donnetta Lavinia Grays created a one-woman musical based on the memoir. Christopher Parker and Kelley Hurt created a jazz suite inspired by the text, titled No Tears Suite: A Monumental Ode to the Little Rock Nine, in 2017.
In 1999, Beals published White Is a State of Mind: A Memoir, considered a sequel to Warriors Don't Cry. The sequel recounts Beals' life during the "Lost Year"—when governor Orval Faubus closed integrated public schools, heightening racial tensions and inciting racial violence—and the subsequent events in Beals' life, such as attending college and graduate school. Beals also published March Forward Girl (2018), a prequel to Warriors Don't Cry, and I Will Not Fear: My Story of a Lifetime of Building Faith under Fire, a retrospective connecting Beals' experiences with racism to her spiritual growth.
