Reply #25: NYT 10/31: "The Long History of a Bus Ride" -That bus episode was just one [View All]

[Nothing Without Hope]

incident - there was MUCH more in Mrs. Parks' life before and after that day and also many other trailblazing, courageous fighters. This article gives an important reminder that to talk about Rosa Parks as just the lady that got arrested that day in Alabama is to do her a grave disservice - in effect, make her a cartoon figure - and it completely ignores the many other people who did great things. Mrs. Parks herself would be the first in line to agree emphatically with this.

Why not celebrate and honor her legacy by learning more about her life and those of other great civil rights leaders in this country? It's such a rich, deep, inspiring, living heritage, and this is a time when we need inspiration and encouragement.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/opinion/31williams.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fContributors
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

The Long History of a Bus Ride

By JUAN WILLIAMS
Published: October 31, 2005

(snip)

Another woman who recently died, C. DeLores Tucker, didn't face that kind of drama. But she broke through political barriers to become Pennsylvania's commonwealth secretary, then blazed new paths by working to get other black people into elected office and challenging misogyny in rap music.

The one-dimensional telling of one day in the life of Rosa Parks takes her away from the real story - and to my mind the really inspiring story - of extraordinary black women like Judge Motley and Ms. Tucker, who rose from working-class backgrounds to become dedicated to creating social change.

The truth is that Mrs. Parks was not someone who one day, out of the blue, decided to defy the local custom of blacks sitting in the back of the bus. That story leads some people to the cynical conclusion, once voiced by a character in the movie "Barbershop," that all Rosa Parks did was sit on her bottom. That's not only insulting but a distortion that takes away the powerful truth that Rosa Parks worked hard to develop her own political consciousness and then worked hard to build a politically aware black community in the heart of Dixie.

(snip)

Rosa Parks was uncomfortable with the sainthood thrust upon her, and used to say there was more to her life than "being arrested on a bus." Her full, not so simple story is a guide to activism, an inspiration to every American trying to find the power to create social change. The best way to honor her memory is by also celebrating those people whose stories are not so easy to grasp, but who played roles that Rosa Parks would have said overshadowed her own.