Rosa Parks took a seat in order for our nation to stand up

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Amaani Lyle
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany (AFPN) --  In October, I was in Texas for a journalist’s workshop when I learned by way of a television news ticker that Rosa Parks, often dubbed the “mother of the civil rights movement,” died at age 92.

The news took my breath away, but it was then that I realized a hero doesn’t always wear a military uniform or a red cape. This particular heroine instead wore a winter coat to buffer the chill of a Montgomery, Ala., morning in 1955 as she rode the bus to work.

Her quiet rebellion during the Jim Crow segregation era spurred a controversy that soon became the icon of activism for millions who fought for fair treatment of all races.

The choice -- one Ms. Parks always described as “unplanned” -- to stay put as a white person waited to take her seat, jarred our nation’s conscience and earned her the reverence of people the world over who also recognized the importance of freedom.

The 380-day bus boycott (where thousands walked to work as far as 20 miles a day) that soon followed Ms. Parks’ arrest led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision to desegregate her city’s public transportation. A short bus ride detoured to a long journey through humanity by way of mass demonstrations, the introduction of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to the world and the transformation of America’s homes, schools and workplaces into hotbeds of change.

The “timeless longing for human dignity and freedom,” as Dr. King wrote in his book, “Stride Toward Freedom,” was what inspired Ms. Parks and generations that followed. Our stride toward freedom remains the cornerstone of democracy as it was since the birth of our nation.

As the news scrolled past the bottom of my television screen, I understood the power of one to change the lives of many. Conversely, I realized servicemembers are a broad spectrum of thousands, yet we can change lives as a unified force.

Ms. Parks, a humble seamstress turned civil rights activist, garnered numerous humanitarian and achievement awards. In 1999, President William Jefferson Clinton presented her with the nation’s highest civilian honor, a Congressional Gold Medal.

“We must never … forget about the power of ordinary people to stand in the fire for the cause of human dignity,” the former President said.

Here’s to the Airmen and our sister services -- ordinary people who, not unlike Rosa Parks, make an extraordinary commitment to freedom each day.