A 42- year- old seamstress by the name of Rosa Parks made history in Montgomery,Alabama when she refused to give her bus seat to a white man. This act of defiance against an unjust law nearly fifty years ago galvanized a generation of activists including Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, and Malcom X.The Civil Rights Movement that followed from her simple act eventually after much trials and tribulations, saw the abolition of discrimination in public accommodations.
When I read this news, it brought to memory a quotation I posted here last week, repeated again.
"It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest wall of oppression and resistance."-Robert F Kennedy.
The world has lost a champion of Civil Rights. The battle of Civil Rights is still not won. The world is rampant with violence, drugs, poverty, child labor, religious intolerance, terrorism and unresolved age-old conflicts. This is despite the fact globalization and modern technology has made it possible for unparalleled wealth creation and ease of communication.
The bright spark now is the hope that this generation unlike Rosa Parks and her compatriots will not take so much time to resolve the challenges facing the world toady.
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