I have always appreciated the story of Rosa Parks who refused to move to the back of bus in Montgomery, Alabama during the dark days of segregation. It was an act of defiance, but such a simply one, a Holy No, if you will.
Parks became an icon of the Civil Rights Movement but she sounds as though she was a faithful church lady in the American Methodist Episcopal Church. She was a church stewardess, helping with communion and baptism in her congregation. She was also a deaconess, the highest position for a laywoman in the denomination. Parks died in 2005 at age 92.
In February a statue of Parks was unveiled in the rotunda of the Capitol building in Washington. This full-sized statue was commissioned by Congress -- the first since 1873. It was unveiled by a prestigious gang, including the first African American president of the United States, Barack Obama. There were also folk from the AME, which was only fitting. The denomination was founded by someone who was born a slave. Faith was so important to Parks who once commented that "God was everything to me." In church she would write sermon notes on the bulletin and some of these documents still exist.
What are your observations about Rosa Parks and the dedication of this statue?
I think it's just tremendous, that they're doing this. The word "iconic" is ridiculously overused in this day and age, but that's exactly what Rosa Parks was.
ReplyDeleteThe simplicity of her gesture and her bravery in the face of personal harm is just the living definition of bravery.