The look on her face says it all. Anyone who knows the story of Rosa Parks, knows there is much to say. Yet somehow, without a hint of arrogance, self promotion or celebrity, the woman who took a stand by sitting down on that Montgomery City bus back in December of 1955, now takes her seat among America's most notable. The Rosa Parks U.S. postage stamp is being unveiled in cities across the country, on what would have been her 100th birthday, and during Black History Month.
Poised and posed in a green suit and matching pill-box hat, "the mother of civil rights" offers a dignified gaze of clarity, one that brings into focus how a response to an unplanned challenge made a world of difference. Rosa Parks didn't set out that day to become a civil rights icon. Tired, in her rightful place and minding her own business, she was confronted with an injustice so many had grown to accept. But on that day, she faced a personal test. We all get them from time to time, when our beliefs and values come under the greatest assault. How we respond is often determined by who we really are at the core of our beings. Rosa Parks quietly resisted, yet in that moment stirred up a firestorm of change that we now honor and celebrate.
Once again it's a reminder that no matter our role, whether large or small, we all have a hand in making our communities better places to live. We don't know when our individual voice will be called upon to speak up.
"The Girl in the Yellow Scarf" explores a similar theme. A child witness to a horrific civil rights crime spends decades trying to find the voice to uncap a devastating secret. In the end, it comes down to her own personal convictions about right and wrong. It's a difficult journey, but necessary to bring accountability where there has been none.
(ISBN: 978-0-615-60705-4) She was a child witness with an impossible choice... Now Sandra Chapman takes you beyond the headlines of the $7 dollar secret and the key to solving the 1968 case.
