The Power of One
I’m in Santa Barbara right now, and I was shocked to get on the internet and see this headline:
Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks Dies at 92
I had to pause for a moment, realizing that I always thought of her as this constant, this icon that lived out in Detroit, that was the spark that lit the fire of the civil rights movement, with just one action - refusing to give her seat to a white man.
You know, people often say, “What can I do? I’m just one person…” Rosa Parks is the proof that one person standing up for what she thinks is right, can change society. She didn’t use violence, she didn’t make long speeches whining about inequality, she just refused to give up her seat. But that action started a bus boycott that began the civil rights movement.
Even after that, she led the rest of her life in the quest to teach the youth of America about civil rights, and to turn them into future leaders.
When South African freedom icon Nelson Mandela came to Detroit in 1990, the person he was most honored to meet was Parks. When he got off the plane, a line of dignitaries waited to greet him. Mandela simply stood in awe when he saw Parks. “He chanted, ‘Rosa, Rosa, Rosa Parks!’.” recalled Keith, who had escorted her to the airport to meet Mandela.
“He recognized her before he recognized anyone,” Keith said.
Mandela later told Keith that Parks was his inspiration while he was jailed and her example inspired South African freedom fighters.
Mandela called Parks “the David who challenged Goliath” in a 1993 speech at the NAACP convention in Indianapolis.
The best-selling poet and writer Maya Angelou said of her, “Mrs. Parks is for me probably what the Statute of Liberty was for immigrants. She stood for the future, and the better future.”
Angelou recalled the pleasure of having Parks as a guest at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C., several years ago.
“She was as tender as a rose and she was as strong as steel.”
Detroit Free Press
Such a small woman, such a kind, gentle face, such a strong, fighting spirit inside. Who would have known?
Rest in peace, Rosa…and thank you.
She was amazing right, and she was just tired too!
Someone in my program had no idea of who she was, and she’s in social work?
Crazy right?
Rest in peace Rosa Parks.
I remember battling my parents over Civil Rights in the ’60s. I’m from Atlanta. What causes a person raised in en environment to reject the social mores and culture? Someone like Rosa Parks, whose simple act is understandable to even a child.
That’s such a beautiful photo of her.
Star Jones-Reynolds said on the View that Rosa keeping her seat on the bus is why she (Star) has her seat on the View today.
This is a beautiful photo of her.