ROSA LOUISE PARKS, 1913-2005

From the Detroit Free Press:

http://www.freep.com/news/metro/parksobit25e_20051025.htm

I don’t need to remind anyone who Rosa parks was, what she became famous for, or how much changed because of her reluctant heroism. She represented the straw that ‘broke the camel’s back’ of institutional racism in America. Her act of civil disobedience was not intended as such, but it did, nonetheless, change a nation for the better.

To change the world we don’t always have to intend to do so. We can simply be too tired to move, too sore to run, or too fed up to take it any longer. No grand purpose need be intended or sought out. A simple act, perhaps even a selfish one, at the right place and time, can be the key to opening society to new ideals and help break some old, nasty habits.

In activism we are told to “Think globally and act locally.” It’s a rather pragmatic and practical way of doing things. After all, ‘locally’ speaking is where you are, and it’s kind of hard to do anything where you are not. Rosa Parks acted in the most ‘local’ manner possible; not only from her own sense of right and wrong, but also from physical exhaustion and a pair of very sore feet. Not exactly what one might consider ‘global’ thinking, but certainly with lasting global effects.

Perhaps we can dub Mrs. Parks “The Reluctant Gandhi.”

Rest those tired feet in Peace, Rosa. Let us, with your blessings, do the marching now.