A Rose for Rosa

Rosa, Rosa our fallen matriach.
Our lodestone of resistance
The first daughter of our baptism into fire

When I think of Rosa Parks, of course I see the symbolism. Who could not help but see the symbolic nature of a woman of such profound dignity. She was strong and her statement through a determined repertoire of resistance inspired many. I would like to remember Rosa as she was in Montgomery, before the textbooks got her. Before they mainstreamed her. Rosa had a passionate vision of American society and she knew where she wanted to be. She knew the pains of racism and the distortions of the motto "liberty and justice for all."

Above all, I believe Rosa Parks prided herself in being a person who recognized the tremondous obstacles in the struggle for Africans in America to be treated with dignity and respect. Rosa Parks was an outstanding citizen but before she was caputured by the textbooks or parodied by OutKast, Rosa was a revolutionary. She is a reminder to all of us that the small acts of life are revolutionary and have a tremendous opportunity to radically change the environment around us.

While I will not credit Rosa with being the originator of black protest for civil rights in America, I will credit her with being tough as nails and lending the determination that inspired two generations that followed. My generation, Generation X, I urge you to listen to the sweet refrain of her life that melodiously renders the following line most clearly...

God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou Who hast brought us thus far on the way;
Thou Who hast by Thy might, led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee.
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee.
Shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand,
True to our God, true to our native land.