The year was 1955... the day was December 1st... the place was Montgomery, Alabama...and a petit African American woman, 42 years of age boarded a bus on her way home after a long exausting day working as a seamstress. A common action, a common day, and yet, that petit woman would show the world that day the power of one person, one voice, one action...
In a world that was still far from even vaguely acknowledging the rights of African Americans, that woman was asked to stand up and move to the back so a white man could take her seat. Her reply was a two letter word that would change history. She said "No".
That woman was Rosa Parks, and her revolutionary action initiated a series of events: She was arrested and fined $14 for violating a city ordinance, a 381-day Montgomery bus boycott followed, organized by a then little-known Baptist minister, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and, finally, the Supreme Court's ruling in November 1956 that segregation on transportation is unconstitutional.
“At the time I was arrested I had no idea it would turn into this,” Mrs. Parks said 30 years later. “It was just a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in.” Rosa Parks died yesterday, at 92.
May her spirit and example change generations to come.
