Is there any more famous picture than that of Rosa Parks riding the bus? Possibly, but this picture has come to represent an American awakening. Without Rosa Parks's defiance that day in Montgomery, Alabama, I have to wonder what it might have taken to finally spark the movement toward desegregation and civil rights in this nation. She has been rightly called "the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement;" however, in my mind she is the woman who awakened a nation.
On the occasion of her death, I thought it might be fitting to remember that the vision of Martin Luther King, Jr. and other black leaders was one of color-blindness. Unfortunately, today's black leaders use color to keep their communities divided from "white America." It's a shame that the message has been lost. From an interview in 1996, in Rosa's own words, that's not the vision she had:
"...February, Black History Month, seemed a relevant time to evaluate youth and their sense of history. But Parks thinks bigger and broader. 'We don't have enough young people who are concerned and who are exposed to the civil rights movement, and I would like to see more exposure and get their interest,' she says, pausing to reflect, 'but I think it should just be history, period, and not thinking in terms of only Black History Month' [emphasis mine]."
I hope that black leaders will pause to reflect on the bravery of Rosa Parks and the sanity of Martin Luther King, Jr. It's time to remember their message and carry it to the finish line: "We are Americans." If this message is revived, Rosa Parks will again have changed a nation.
God bless and keep Rosa Parks. May she rest in peace knowing that she changed a nation for the better.
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