Rosa Parks Dead At 92
I love America – I love the idea of it, the founding documents, the rich history, the melting pot – I love it all. America is more than a country, it is an idea – an idea put best, perhaps, in the immortal words of Thomas Jefferson: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all mean are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” What gave the civil rights struggle such poignancy was how self-evident it was that America in practice, particularly in my beloved South, was not living up to America the idea, even close to a century after a Civil War was fought over, among other things, the issue of slavery.
There are those who will say of Rosa Parks, “She was a plant by the NAACP”. Well, she was active in the local chapter – so what? Does this make the indignities she endured any less real? These are the same people who seize on MLK’s womanizing, as if that would silence the stirring words that continue to inspire people the world over.
No, the civil rights struggle of the 60′s was ultimately triumphant because it was ultimately right. We have a heavy burden as Americans – we have to live up to the lucky break given us to be born in this most optimistic of countries, this country founded on consent of the governed. We need the Rosa Parks to remind us when we fall short. God bless and Rest In Peace, Rosa…
It’s hard to do anything but praise a woman like Rosa Parks. It’s hard to realize just how much pioneers like her really were taking their lives in their hands.
If anyone here ever is in Memphis, I’d recommend a visit to the National Civil Rights Museum, found in the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was killed. Excellent museum, and it gives you a real feel for the times.
Rest in Peace Rosa Parks
Bloggers commemorate Rosa Parks
The Man Before Rosa Parks
Many are the tributes to Rosa Parks today. I will highlight some of them later.