Rosa Parks R.I.P.



I knew her name.
In our history class at school, years ago, I remember our teacher telling us about Rosa Parks and what she did back in the 1950's.
We also learned about the students who were refused admission to university
too because they were black.
James Meredith is the guys name but I can't recall the lady's name who was refused.
 
Parks breathed life into civil rights movement

[size=-1]By LARRY COPELAND[/size]
[size=-1]Philadelphia Inquirer[/size]
When Rosa Parks, a quiet Montgomery, Ala., seamstress, refused to give up her seat on a city bus, she helped spark the black civil rights movement in the South.

Her spontaneous act of defiance that day in 1955 lent a spark to a movement that would, in the decade to follow, sweep across an entire region. And it provided the moment that propelled the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to the national stage.

Her quiet grace against the entrenched racial segregation of the era made her a powerful and enduring symbol of that struggle and led her to be known as "the mother of the movement."

For generations of schoolchildren - particularly black children who grew up in the South of the 1960s - Parks, who died Monday, was a figure of near-epic dimension. She occupied a place in the pantheon of African-American heroes alongside the likes of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, of Marcus Garvey and Dr. King.

Yet throughout her 92 years, Parks remained humble and accessible - oblivious, it seemed, to her place in history.

"I had no idea when I refused to give up my seat on that Montgomery bus that my small action would help put an end to the segregation laws of the South," she said in her autobiography. "I only knew that I was tired of being pushed around."

In her sunset years, she could be found, broom in hand, tidying the front stoop of the modest, west-side Detroit house where she lived alone. By then, she was frail, her face seasoned by life, her hair white, her step slowed. Even then, though, those dark eyes - made famous in a thousand photographs - were as full as ever of no-nonsense and steel. Except when she smiled: Parks' smile was beatific, and it caressed her whole face.

"I have never thought of myself as a hero," she said in a 1994 interview at her home. "I just did what seemed like the right thing to do.
Her humble courage started a revolution for the good of all. I believe she will be remembered as one of the greatest figures in American history. Bless her soul on her continuing journey.
 
the civil rights movement is as valid as ever, in the us. the forefront issues today include anti arab defamation, anti undocumented immigrant harassment, pro same sex marriage, pro economic inequality, anti poverty draft, anti priveleged access to quality and higher education, anti warfare and genocide, anti privelege of wealthy over the poor in regards to preferential legal and social treatment, anti racial profiling by law enforcement, anti minority prison poulation inequality, anti targeted voter harassment, pro equality in medical access, anti ever reduced wage and earning of the majority while the wealthiest small minority is ever wealthier and smaller, and equal oppurtunity in the workplace in hiring and advancement in regards to age, race, gender, and beliefs.

this was the message martin luther king was driving home in his last year,
that the civil rights movement must extend to addressing all matters of human rights, and the issue of race is just one aspect of this matter in society.

there is as much progress to be made on these fronts today as there was in regards to the race issues in her time. history will look back criticaly on the present and acknowlege this as fact. those of us who are in support of the furthering of these rights must remain steadfast, vocal, and unduanted in the face of the derision we sometimes encounter.

rosa parks, remained truly dignified in the face of predjudice and inequality.

limerickman said:
 
lyotard said:
the civil rights movement is as valid as ever, in the us. the forefront issues today include anti arab defamation, anti undocumented immigrant harassment, pro same sex marriage, pro economic inequality, anti poverty draft, anti priveleged access to quality and higher education, anti warfare and genocide, anti privelege of wealthy over the poor in regards to preferential legal and social treatment, anti racial profiling by law enforcement, anti minority prison poulation inequality, anti targeted voter harassment, pro equality in medical access, anti ever reduced wage and earning of the majority while the wealthiest small minority is ever wealthier and smaller, and equal oppurtunity in the workplace in hiring and advancement in regards to age, race, gender, and beliefs.

this was the message martin luther king was driving home in his last year,
that the civil rights movement must extend to addressing all matters of human rights, and the issue of race is just one aspect of this matter in society.

there is as much progress to be made on these fronts today as there was in regards to the race issues in her time. history will look back criticaly on the present and acknowlege this as fact. those of us who are in support of the furthering of these rights must remain steadfast, vocal, and unduanted in the face of the derision we sometimes encounter.

rosa parks, remained truly dignified in the face of predjudice and inequality.

Good post.

I read Rosa Parks obituary today and indeed she seems to have been a very impressive lady (and a brave person).

That Hurricane in N.O. has blown the lid off a lot of issues.
 
limerickman said:
Good post.

I read Rosa Parks obituary today and indeed she seems to have been a very impressive lady (and a brave person).
True very true...


That Hurricane in N.O. has blown the lid off a lot of issues.
This is ridiculous....:rolleyes:
 
She lived a full and rewarding life but, as with most legends, the whole truth is somewhere around the corner from the legend.

Ms Parks, was a quiet seamstress, but she was also a member of the NAACP and she was not the first to defy the law. The first woman was an unwed mother. The NAACP felt that she was not the type of woman that people would rally around, so history ignored her. The NAACP then went with Ms Parks.

Her act of civil disobedience was planned, but it was a needed plan. She was a true hero to all.

Many people in Great Britain, Europe, as well as the US could learn a lot from that quiet seamstress.
 

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