Most of us have our heroes. Many of them are sports
stars, rock stars, movie stars, etc. One of my heroes
was not one of those. She was a courageous black
woman from Alabama. She wasn’t well educated, she
wasn’t a great writer, she wasn’t really spectacular
in any way. Yet to me, Rosa Parks was a hero.
For those of you who don’t know, Rosa Parks is famous
for refusing to give up her seat on a bus in
Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. Normally not that big of
a deal, but in this case, it set the world on its ear.
Because Rosa Parks was a black woman, and the man was
white. And in the southern United States, that wasn’t
allowed to happen.
By refusing to give up her seat, Rosa Parks stood up
for what was right. And came to help change something
that was terribly wrong; not only in the southern
United States, but everywhere. I wish I could say the
change is complete, but it isn’t. However, she
started the fight that continues to this day.
I will always respect and admire her courage and
conviction to do what was right, instead of going
along with the status quo. How many of us go along
with things we know to be wrong, but we merely shrug
and go along with it anyway.
Last night, Rosa Parks passed away peacefully in her
sleep. But she did not die. The spirit that inspired
her to stand up for what is right lives on, not only
in her, but in all of us. She taught us that we don’t
have to be big and strong and we don’t have to be
brave and forceful. We only have to have the courage
to stand up and be counted, we only have to refuse to
accept what’s wrong, and try to change our corner of
the world. Rosa Parks refused to stand up when the
Enemy told her to, and in so doing, she stood up not
only for the rights of blacks, but for all oppressed
people everywhere. God Bless you, Rosa Parks. Doug
LeBlanc.



Doug LeBlanc
Canadian Progressive Music Society
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/canprog/
A heart that takes is soon to break
A heart that is giving will give forever
Dave Lambert of the Strawbs



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