Tuesday, October 25, 2005

THE SWEET, STRONG MEMORY OF ROSA PARKS, HUMANITARIAN


ROSA PARKS, A NATIONAL TREASURE

Rosa Parks passed away on October 24, 2005 at the age of 92 in Detroit, Michigan of natural causes.

Let's take some time to consider Rosa Parks, our contemporary Harriet Tubman, who single-handledly forced this country to look closely at its poor treatment of blacks.

As a child in Tuskegee, Alabama, Parks spent many nights listening to the activities of the local Ku Klux Klan, while they ran down, beat and lynched black citizens.



As an adult, she refused to give up her seat and move to the back of a Montgomery, Alabama bus, while, at the same time, withstanding the threats, insults and abuse from her fellow passengers, Parks took up the banner long held by Jackie Robinson, and refused to further tolerate discrimination and Jim Crow, as a private citizen and individual. She was absolutely fearless in her actions on that day, December 1, 1955. Parks was immediately arrested and by December 5th, the Montgomery Bus Boycott began, with Dr. Martin Luther King as its leader.

"Sparking the modern civil rights movement in the United States by refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. Rosa Parks's arrest for breaking Montgomery segregation laws started a boycott of the city bus line that lasted 381 days. This eventually led to the 1956 Supreme Court ruling declaring segregation illegal on public buses."

Recently, she and her spouse facilitated the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development, which was created to foster positive achievement for youth.

For youthful readers, she wrote the book, Rosa Parks: How I Fought For Civil Rights and also a autobiography entitled Quiet Strength.

"The only thing that bothered me,
was that we waited so long to make
this protest." --- Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks IS a National Treasure and deserves to be honored as such. In 1996, President Clinton awarded Rosa Parks with the Medal of Freedom Award. In my opinion, for her bravery and foresight, she deserves the Congressional Medal as well.

Known as the Mother of the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement, Parks' strength and sheer determination to fight for the rights of black Americans was righteous and fierce, then and now.

WRITE FOR WHAT IS RIGHT
Write or email your Senator and request a Medal for our National Treasure Rosa Parks posthumously. You can research your state representatives at this link.

RESOURCES FOR YOU TO CHECK OUT:

ACADEMY OF ACHIEVEMENT: ROSA PARKS

JIM CROW MUSEUM OF RACIST MEMORABILIA


CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE LATE MRS. PARKS:
Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development
65 Cadillac Square, Suite 2200 Detroit, MI 48226

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