http://www.highlandercenter.org/n-rosa-parks.aspAs people throughout the nation, and indeed throughout the world, celebrate the legacy of Rosa Parks and mourn her passing on October 24th, Highlander pauses to reflect on what she meant to so many in the movement. Beyond the historical myth-making, she maintained a deep connection to those on the ground--the ordinary folk who comprise the grand struggle. She demonstrated with humility, dignity, commitment, and resolve the power of an ordinary person, working with others, to do extraordinary things. And in the spirit of ordinary-folk-in-struggle, Highlander is honored to have held a particular connection to Rosa Parks.
Our society teaches history through stories of remarkable individuals, and while Rosa Parks was indeed remarkable, her story is also about collective action, willed risk, intentional plans and mass movement. Sanitized versions of this story refer to Mrs. Parks as simply being tired on December 1, 1955 when she refused to give up her seat to a white man. She was not simply tired that day but tired of racism and segregation, tired of constantly being treated as a second-class citizen.
At the time of her arrest, Rosa Parks was a respected community leader already working to counter humiliating racist laws and traditions. She became secretary of the Montgomery NAACP chapter as early as 1943 and tried to register to vote three times before doing so for the first time in 1945. As a member of the NAACP, she worked on voter registration and youth programs, and in fact on that particular December 1st, she needed to get home to prepare for a youth workshop she was conducting that weekend.
Rosa Park's continued legacy is the story of action taken in the face of great risk to effect change. "Standing up by sitting down" had huge implications for her own life and the lives of those around her. She was tremendously respected by others and was resolved to live in dignity. Her action was the match needed to light a fire prepared and ready to spark in Montgomery, Alabama and throughout the south.
Highlander is honored by our connection to Mrs. Parks. In July 1955 she came to the original Highlander Folk School located in Monteagle, Tennessee, for a workshop on school desegregation, one of many workshops that Highlander held for civil rights freedom fighters during that time. She later spoke of that workshop as being the first time she had lived in "an atmosphere of equality with members of the other race."
Rosa Parks and other participants from Montgomery actually left that workshop saying they weren't sure that people in their community would stick together to fight segregation. But when she returned to Highlander in March of 1956, one hundred days into what would become a 381 day boycott, 50,000 people in Montgomery were sticking together, walking rather than riding the bus, launching the next phase of the civil rights movement.
In that meeting, Highlander founder Myles Horton asked about her decision that day, "What was on your mind, Rosa?"
She replied, "Well, in the first place I had been working all day on the job, not feeling too well after spending a hard day working. The job required I handle and work on clothing that white people would wear and that accidentally came into my mind. And this was what I wanted to know - when, how would we ever determine our rights as human beings?"
Determining our rights as human beings - the cause to which Rosa Parks gave her life, not just in 1955 but the many years that followed. Her action on the bus that day was historically significant, and she remained active throughout her life, working in contemporary fights for racial equality and justice. Her example challenges us to do the same.
We last saw Rosa Parks here on the Highlander grounds in 1990 at the memorial for Highlander founder Myles Horton. We honor her legacy by continuing Highlander's longstanding work for justice and equality today.
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