Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • 15

DETROIT FREE PRESS WWW.FREEP.COM ROSA PARKS I OTHER VOICES WEDNESDAY. NOV. 2, 2005 1 5 A WHAT THEY ARE SAYING honor of a cMl riffMs ico Excerpts of commentary on Rosa Parks' civil rights legacy: drive, but was actually an opportunity for black folks to touch the hem of the garment of an icon. "To have this person in flesh and blood and bone makes an indelible impression," Daughtry told me as he marveled at the ap SWSmif -THIS is 1 YOUR STOP plause and cheers and flashing cameras. Kids, in particular, were overwhelmed.

Mrs. Parks, who died last week at the age of 92, had young been she, told to relinquish my seat on a city bus only because of the color of my skin. Hers was a classic act of civil disobedience: She stayed seated, challenging the very law she believed to be unjust and bearing the consequences of her defiance, all with a quiet elegance that never turned on her opponents. My thought exercise came up short. I could not imagine myself a black woman in the segregated South 50 years ago.

I could not fathom the courage it took for her to defy not just a city ordinance, but an entire social structure, and to do so in a way that brought lasting change to this nation. Most of us don't measure up to Rosa Parks. She was unique. That is why she is the first woman ever to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda. But Mrs.

Parks left us more than an example of principled character. She left us a challenge to continually consider whether there are laws and rules so unjust that tmhe death of civil rights legend Rosa Parks is an occasion for our nation to look back on her legacy. Mrs. Parks died Oct. 24 in her home in Detroit at the age of 92.

Fifty years ago, on Dec. 1, 1955, she refused to give up her seat to a white patron on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Ala. She was arrested. The incident touched off the historic Montgomery bus boycott, and a new phase of the modern civil rights movement was born. I PI 1 IN HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY titled "My Story" in 1992, Mrs.

Parks wrote that The false lesson that many people took from Mrs. Parks' heroic action is that one lone individual can make change. In fact, Mrs. Parks would have been the first to remind us that her actions were not wholly spontaneous and she did not act alone. After Mrs.

Parks' they should not be obeyed, and to ask ourselves how we would practice such civil disobedience, whether it is justified, and whether we are personally willing to accept the consequenc "the more we gave in and complied, the worse they treated us." The civil rights struggle got a big boost from the top when President Dwight D. Eisenhower intervened with federal marshals to deseg Jane Eisner people on her mind E.R. shipp Thursday, Dec. 1,1955, as she headed home on that now infamous Cleveland Avenue bus in Montgomery, after a long day of work as a seamstress. She was the adviser to the local NAACP youth council and needed to get out notices about an upcoming workshop to encourage youth to become more involved in the NAACP.

After her death last week, U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, her former employer for more than 20 years, observed that Mrs. Parks was less interested in people seeing her as an icon and more in having them "understand their rights, and the Constitution that people are still trying to perfect today." Back in 1988, Mrs. Parks told me that she appreciated the accolades from kids, but "I want them to feel that they themselves can be inspired to do their very best in school or wherever they are." What dismayed her was the need for such a massive voter registration drive all those years later.

"It is hard to understand how it could be that those who have opportunities to do so seem to be indifferent and complacent about keeping and using the franchise and the right to vote freely and properly." Honor her now with more than now-cliche lines like "When she sat down, we stood up." Take a stand. Make a difference. E.R. Shipp, New York Daily News WHEN ROSA PARKS died, I tried to imagine what I would have done had I initial action, the boycott required the courage, stamina and organization of many others frt eiictain if Helen Thomas f' 1 1 Mrs. Parks lent her JACKOHMANOregonian lived.

As I recall, Detroit was hardly a paradise for the black community. The city also had its share of race riots, even during World War II, but Mrs. Parks and her husband adapted to the new environment and Rosa Parks went to work as a staff assistant for U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit.

She retired in 1988. She is a heroine who lived to receive many awards for taking an unpopular and dangerous stand. She was given the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award the U.S. government bestows as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award. Helen Thomas, Hearst Newspapers MY FIRST CONTACT with Rosa Parks came in 1988, when, advanced in age and rather frail, she crisscrossed the country to encourage people, especially young people, to become involved in civic life.

Out in Brooklyn, the Rev. Herbert Daughtry's House of the Lord Church was jam-packed for what was ostensibly a voter-registration Barbara Ransby iiaine anu waning energies to a variety of progressive causes over the years between 1955 es. Some argue that civil disobedience is not necessary in a society as free and open as ours is today, where there are constitutional means of dissent and avenues for less disruptive challenges to laws perceived to be unjust. Perhaps, too, we don't have the patience and fortitude for true nonviolent resistance. It takes time to accomplish what Rosa Parks accomplished time and strength and a willingness to sacrifice all for a cause.

Surely there are worthy causes. The question is whether we are worthy enough as citizens to pursue them. Jane R. Eisner, Philadelphia Inquirer From Free Press news services regate schools in Little Rock, in 1956. Later in the early 1960s Presidents John F.

Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson threw their weight behind the movement. But Mrs. Parks added the human dimension to the very dramatic picture. Mrs.

Parks had to pay a price for her new celebrity with telephoned death threats and worries about fire-bombings of the homes of friends who supported her. She also lost her job at a department store in Montgomery. By 1957, she and her husband had had it with their treatment in the South and they moved to Detroit my hometown where her brother and 2005. She opposed wars, supported workers' rights, indicted persistent racism, decried the growth of prisons and the decline of public schools. Rosa Parks made her mark on history.

Now this generation must do the same by continuing to advance the cause that Mrs. Parks has come to symbolize. Barbara Ransby, Progressive Media Project FROM OUR READERS Sale effective 11-2 thru 11-8-05 What her legacy truly means Enqli dcnsj Celebrate Come I believe Rosa Parks would riot be at all impressed with the idea of buildings, streets or statues named in her honor. Those things are merely mortar and brick. I believe this brave and honorable woman would want people to give money for educational scholarships.

She believed in people, and her legacy will live on in every black child who goes on to attain a higher education. Heart and spirit make her legacy, not stone and asphalt. Denice M. Brown Detroit bringing our communities together. Further, let us teach our children, not about inequality, but about hope.

Let us begin by sharing one single act of kindness in memory of Rosa Parks. Cathy Gniewek Publisher MichiganToday.net Plymouth Inspiration spills over to Canada Today, I attended the funeral of a wonderful old native woman of Canada's the Holidays V4 Save 33 to 50 1 Pre-lit Life-like Trees ii i 'r' Michigan's only Hudson Valley retailer. 168 varieties, ranging from 2-ft to 30-ft tall. L.JV -1 1-1 iv 7V2-H Indiana Douglas Fir by Hudson Valley Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation who died at the age of 101. During the service, a woman who was giving tribute to Annie Henry by song stopped midway and spoke of a vision she had the other day of two angels Annie Henry and a great American woman, Rosa Parks.

Both women contributed so much Annie Henry for her teachings of the heritage and culture of her people, and Rosa Parks who has left "a legacy of freedom and justice and equality and courage." Even in a place as far north as the Yukon in Canada, Rosa Courage stands out The possibility that a black man chose a seat in the front of the bus during a Selma run before Rosa Parks insisted on her right to sit where she pleased seems plausible. That many black men took seats in the front of the bus and made it stick, months, years before Rosa Parks' initiative seems probable. Rosa Parks' experience was illegal, but was morally correct. She showed courage and became the perfect role model one to support, applaud and idolize. Neil Goodbred Livonia Pre-lit with 700 clear or multkolor lights.

SALE $99" 2c7V2-ft Douglas Fir by National Tree Pre-lit with 750 clear or multkolor lights. CAI S1QQ99 April 1998 photo by DAVID BUNDYAssociated Press Mrs. Rosa Parks died Oct. 24 in Detroit. crv English Gardens 33 Off W'fv AllUfe-llke Wreaths Garlands by National Tree 100-lightsets Available in clear, Choose from 37 garlands and 79 wreaths up to 60" wide.

Most pre-lit with clear or multkolor lights. multi and seven solid colors. SALE $4" 20 Off Ml Christmas Silk Stems, Picks Berries Parks is known as a person who made an enormous difference and a person who should always be revered for her courage and dedication. She is part of the fabric of what makes a nation good and great. Stephen Johnson Dawson City, Yukon, Canada Great movement I just wanted to praise you on the 12 pages of coverage of Rosa Parks.

I think the 12 pages were vivid and full of fantastic information. She was a wonderful woman who opened the door to freedom, and a friendlier world. She pioneered the greatest movement in American history at least it's the greatest in my opinion. Rosa Parks is my hero. Her stand led Martin Luther King Jr.

to take a stand on racism. It was Mrs. Parks who said "no" to the man who told her to move. She stood up for her rights. I deeply respect her for this, and I always will.

She is a legend and always will be in my heart. God bless her soul. Brian Yelle Belle River, Ontario An American hero Why isn't there a place in Arlington National Cemetery for Rosa Parks? If anyone deserves the stature as an American hero, isn't it Rosa Parks? Michael A. Devine Farmington Hills For generations to come Symbolic for social injustice, the Rosa Parks bus stands as a reminder that today we need to stand up for what is right. It is about quiet determination and loud defiance to the acts of inequality.

What better symbol in its original form its seats stripped, its motor gone to parallel exactly what our social values were, buck in 1955, in major disrepair. The bus has been restored and preserved for future generat ions. Let us think of that restoration as a beginning, sparked by Mrs. Parks' quiet courage, to continue the restoration of our values and the war on inequality by English Gardens Gift Cards Perfect for any occasion. Join us for English Gardetis Annual Holiday Open House Sunday, November 6th, 9 a.m.

to 6 p.m. Photos with Santa Caroling Refreshments DOONESQltftY WILL RETURN..