Rosa Parks Dies

Rosa Park, the godmother of the modern civil rights movement, died today at 92. For those who dont remember, or never learned , Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Birmingham, Alabama, bus to a white man, as required by state law in 1956. She was arrested, fined, and lost her job. An heretofore unknown black preacher in Birmingham, one Dr. Martin Luther King, took up her case, which lead to a multi-month (almost 2 year, as I recall) strike against the bus system in Birmingham, leading, ultimately, to the removal of the law. This was the first real movement in the civil rights realm since reconstruction. Shortly thereafter crumbled segregated schools, waiting rooms, rest rooms, water fountains and all the other other detritus of racism in the 'old south'.

Mrs. Parks was a hero in the most potent sense of that word. She stood up for what she believed in, faced the consequences (lost her job, had to move out of Birmingham, etc), and achieved, ultimately, great results through sheer force of will. She will be missed but her spirit shall live forever.