She had her homegoing this week. Her body was placed in the US Capital in DC and no doubt they had ceremonies and programs to celebrate this historical figure. I just wanted to place my thoughts for the record.
First off, I suppose she was the right woman at the right time. I just learned today that something like this was attempted in Baton Rouge. Additionally there have been stoires that there were others in Montgomery, AL who resisted the law that a black can not sit in the white section of the city bus. In fact I read somewhere that a pregnant unwed teen did about the same thing as Mrs. Parks. Somehow that didn't spark the event now known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Some would claim that Mrs. Parks' NAACP membership got her the attention and some would claim she was set up and that it was staged.
Whatever the real story is, everything came together when Rosa Parks was there. Then we had Dr. Martin Luther Kind and then everything was set for history in the making. To put this event into perspective, I also learned today and I didn't really think about it that Montgomery had the crime of Emmit Till for momentum. Perhaps we come to the realization that if we didn't stand up, racist forces will harm us in horrible ways.
In any case there was a number of events that I can point to as the start of the Civil Rights era. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was certainly one of them. Thanks to Mrs. Parks and others, black Americans are surely better off today. It's unfortunate that many of us fail to see that. And that we'll use the activities of the past as an excuse.
Our leadership today comes from the Civil Rights traditions for the most part or at least most of black America's prominent national leaders. They have proven their worth for many years but could it be time for them to let go and allow the next generation to come in and leave their mark. Who will step up to the mantle of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, and Medgar Evers. And will black America truly see better days than we've had so far? I want to hope so.
Isiah 1:17- Learn to do well. Seek justice, Relieve the oppressed, Judge the fatherless, Plead for the widow.
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