In the waning heights of racial inequality in the southern, redneck-dominant, KKK-influenced Alabama, a black woman said "No" to, not one, but MANY whites, and their silly "ideals". Back then, in the "sawth", as a black you had to give up your seat to whites when the bus got crowded and whites no longer had a place to sit.
After one long, stressed day at work a certain black woman said "NO". It was a voice (and ideology) that would resound across a nation. Sometimes, media coverage is not such a bad thing.
It wasn't so much that she was tired from a long day at work as much as she was just ... tired! Tired of racial inequality, tired of being treated inferior (for no legitimate reason), tired of rolling over or being pushed around ... just tired!
Her defiance influenced a young minister that we have come to know as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He went on to further Rosa's stand. I am not saying that MLK lacked that ambition to start with, but maybe Rosa's stand helped be the spark that lit the fire that ignited the movement, that was long overdue.
God bless her for standing up (or for not standing, as it were)! This was supposed to be a land of equality and freedom; for so long, it wasn't. At least not for the people that didn't bear the "ever-precious white skin"! Everyone else was inferior in this country of opportunity.
A quarter century ago, a little minority woman in Alabama said "No", and it made our nation better, stronger. She suffered for her decision, as did her family. Yet, her action sparked a revolution of sorts that needed to be waged. Never give up what you believe in!
"I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free... so other people would be also free. "
- Rosa Parks
4 comments:
this was wrote really well daddy! very inspiring!
thanks kiddo.
Well said. She's one of my heroes!
thanks ann. i have great reverence for her too. love her conviction and what it did to help propel the movement that was long overdue.
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