The World According To Adaure: ROSA PARKS: FEBRUARY 4, 1916- OCTOBER 24, 2005

A WOMAN WHO USED HER LIFE TO CHANGE AMERICA

Many of us know the story of this little woman from Alabama who became the mother of the civil rights movement. Ms Rosa Parks was no beauty queen, she was no first lady or politician, she was a mere seamstress who just wanted to sit down and be left in peace after a long days work. She risked her life to disobey an unjust racist law by not giving up her seat on the bus to a white man. That act of defiance and boldness was what gave blood to the civil rights movement and lead to the beginning of the end of segregation laws. Today many people, many women, find themselves in places of power, but fail to seize the opportunity to use their lives to impact others in their community. Many are concerned with the vanities of life alone, acquiring wealth than they are about their hungry, suffering neighbors along the way. In many societies, they pass the poor, the lame and the blind on their way from their ritzy neighborhood to the ritzy restaurants. Ignoring the plight of humanity and not caring about proffering a solution or speaking out for justice or fairness. What are you doing to change the lives of people? The people you meet, the people you hear about, the people you see on television, in those poor neighborhoods and countries. What legacy will you leave behind when you leave this earth? Would you stand up from your seat so you don't have to deal with the responsibility that comes with sitting in that place? WHAT IS YOUR ROSA PARKS MOMENT? If you don't have one, perhaps this is a chance for you to find that moment, a deed that you can look back upon and say, 'I didn't stand up from my bus seat, but I stood up for what's good and just.' Thank you Ms. Parks for not standing up from your seat, because if you hadn't who knows how much longer we would have been standing and letting others sit in our rightful place. Rest in Peace Ms. Parks, the Almighty and his host of angels will be standing up for you as you walk into his gates. Adieu Mama Rosa.