If you want to see how the poor and downtrodden live, ride the bus sometime in a major metropolitan area. The unfortunates trudge back and forth between some meaningless job and their home, day after day, endlessly, hopelessly for meager pay. For some homeless people, the bus IS there home. When the weather is bad, they'll ride the bus throughout the day to stay warm. They frequently haven't bathed for who knows how long - sickening.
Rosa Parks demanded to be treated with equality and dignity as a human being. LBJ went beyond civil rights for blacks and had the noble goal of trying to end poverty, achieving considerable success. Then we got Reagan and Bush who only cared about the rich. We now see the poor abandoned to drown in a New Orleans' flood.
Sitting in the back or front of the bus today, it's the same indignity for people of all races, who struggle for a better life. You're now free to sit anywhere you want on the bus, but you're still going nowhere. Rosa, you told and taught us that it's plain wrong to treat people like second class citizens. You were right, and we're still wrong. We still refuse to heed your courageous example. Today, we bow our heads in tribute to you, and in shame for ourselves.
Notwithstanding the efforts of M L King and other purported black leaders, Rosa Parks’ simple act of civil disobedience (refusing to give up her bus seat for a white man) was the tipping point in the advancement of civil rights in America. She should inspire us all to appreciate how personal courage can lead to extraordinary public legacies.
Trackback in comment: JamulBlog Rosa Parks — that name instantly conjures intense feelings and images for me. Her famous, courageous act of defiance in 1955 was followed by many years of dignified activism. She was an altogether admirable person.
I was only three years old in 1955, so of course I do not remember the actual event that made her a household name. And we did not discuss civil rights in the home where I grew up; at least, not that I can remember. My first recollection of Rosa Parks is from elementary school, where my fourth grade teacher (Mrs. Fitzpatrick) told her story in an attempt to get the all-white class to understand a little bit about racial discrimination and segregation. Mainly what I got from her story was this: Mrs. Fitzpatrick clearly thought Rosa Parks was a saint walking upon the earth.
I love her. I think she was used sometimes, but she never used. She's a role model for everyone and never sought to be. She just said, I'm as good as you.
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9 comments:
May we all have the strength and courage to stand for what truth and justice, just as she did.
She will be missed, but never forgotten.
If you want to see how the poor and downtrodden live, ride the bus sometime in a major metropolitan area. The unfortunates trudge back and forth between some meaningless job and their home, day after day, endlessly, hopelessly for meager pay. For some homeless people, the bus IS there home. When the weather is bad, they'll ride the bus throughout the day to stay warm. They frequently haven't bathed for who knows how long - sickening.
Rosa Parks demanded to be treated with equality and dignity as a human being. LBJ went beyond civil rights for blacks and had the noble goal of trying to end poverty, achieving considerable success. Then we got Reagan and Bush who only cared about the rich. We now see the poor abandoned to drown in a New Orleans' flood.
Sitting in the back or front of the bus today, it's the same indignity for people of all races, who struggle for a better life. You're now free to sit anywhere you want on the bus, but you're still going nowhere. Rosa, you told and taught us that it's plain wrong to treat people like second class citizens. You were right, and we're still wrong. We still refuse to heed your courageous example. Today, we bow our heads in tribute to you, and in shame for ourselves.
Geez, Undecided, Rosa Parks just died, could we have a little peace here? This is a memorial, not a Paul Wellstone rally.
Notwithstanding the efforts of M L King and other purported black leaders, Rosa Parks’ simple act of civil disobedience (refusing to give up her bus seat for a white man) was the tipping point in the advancement of civil rights in America. She should inspire us all to appreciate how personal courage can lead to extraordinary public legacies.
God bless you Ms Parks!
What is undecided prattling on about?
Trackback in comment:
JamulBlog
Rosa Parks — that name instantly conjures intense feelings and images for me. Her famous, courageous act of defiance in 1955 was followed by many years of dignified activism. She was an altogether admirable person.
I was only three years old in 1955, so of course I do not remember the actual event that made her a household name. And we did not discuss civil rights in the home where I grew up; at least, not that I can remember. My first recollection of Rosa Parks is from elementary school, where my fourth grade teacher (Mrs. Fitzpatrick) told her story in an attempt to get the all-white class to understand a little bit about racial discrimination and segregation. Mainly what I got from her story was this: Mrs. Fitzpatrick clearly thought Rosa Parks was a saint walking upon the earth.
I love her. I think she was used sometimes, but she never used. She's a role model for everyone and never sought to be. She just said, I'm as good as you.
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