November 1, 2005
A Simple Act That Will Never Be Forgotten
The death of Rosa Parks, creates a sad occasion that demands that we reflect on the times and life of the woman who became known as the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement. As much as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and maybe more, this gentle woman symbolized the strength of the movement for more than half a century.
For any of you who don’t know the story, Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give her seat to a white male passenger on a segregated bus upon the demands of the bus driver. Four days laterthe Montgomery Bus Boycott began, it lasted 381 days and forced the nation to look in the mirror and begin to change.
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In 1993, Parks published a book called Rosa Parks: My Story. In the book she writes, "People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired but that wasn't true I was not tired physically I was not old. I was 42. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in."
She received the prestigious Medal of Freedom award from President Bill Clinton in 1996. Jet quoted the president at the awards ceremony: "When she sat down on the bus, she stood up for the American ideals of equality and justice and demanded that the rest of us do the same."
Half a century after this mild woman sat down and refused to move, we still remember. Her legacy is felt every day by Americans of all backgrounds, races, and creeds.
Video: Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks Dies
