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Icons of American History

Tuesday, October 25, 2005



Rosa Parks 1913 - 2005

Rosa Parks, the black woman who refused to give up her seat on the bus a white man, died late Monday evening (10/25/05). Known mainly for that refusal and her part in the boycott of the Montgomery bus system that followed, she was called "the mother of the civil rights movement," but in the years that followed she added many other accomplishments in civil rights including starting the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development. (click headline to visit their site and learn more) For all of her acheivements, Rosa Parks was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1966 and in 1999 she was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor an American civilian can acheive.

Many would say that black Americans owe her a debt of gratitude, but they're not the only ones. Every American owes Rosa Parks for having the courage to stand up for what she believed in and showing all of us what was still going on in the dark corners of the country. Many have and will say that what she did was a stunt fostered by the NAACP. The AP story on Yahoo! News even mentions that two women had been arrested earlier for doing the same thing in Montgomery earlier in the year. While it may be true that Parks worked in the Montgomery NAACP office and they may have encouraged their female employees to refuse to give up their seats, those facts do nothing to diminish the risk she took in not giving up that seat in Jim Crow Alabama in the 1950's.

The simple truth remains, Rosa was the one who had to look that white man in the face and say "NO." She was the one who was arrested by the racist Montgomery police force, fingerprinted and locked in a cell, an unsettling experience to say the least. While the other women were arrested, neither were held in police custody, unlike Rosa. Had she been released after booking, we may never have known her name. Another woman would have given up her seat, been arrested and held, and now we would celebrate her name. None of that changes the fact that Rosa Parks was the one who did it, and for that, we all owe her our thanks and admiration.

In honor of her actions, we at The Alarm hereby make The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development one of our spotlight charities. Please click on the link to donate to her organization and remember that 25% of all purchase profits of merchandise from The Alarm Armory will be donated to our spotlight charities. Help us help others.