What Barbershop didn't tell you about Rosa Parks

Ebony, Feb, 2003 by Lerone Bennett, Jr.

The two highlights of the meeting were provided by Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. When Parks was introduced, the crowd rose as one and shook the church with a thunderous ovation. Martin Luther King Jr. came on later, working for the first time in the big league. He hadn't had time to prepare a speech, so he spoke that night with the voice of the people and the wisdom of the heart. He didn't quote Gandhi that night, but he did quote Jesus and, remarkably, Booker T. Washington. "Our method," he said, "will be that of persuasion, not coercion. We will only say to the people, Let your conscience be your guide." He went on then to mention the transforming power of love, saying: "Love must be our regulating ideal. Once again we must hear the words of Jesus echoing across the centuries: `Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and pray for them that despitefully use you.'"

Then, after the applause died down, King built a climatic crescendo that would later become his oratorical signature. "If you will protest courageously, and yet with dignity and Christian love, when the history books are written in future generations, the historians will have to pause and say, `There lived a great people--a Black people--who injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization.' This is our challenge and our overwhelming responsibility."

On this high note of challenge and inspiration, the meeting ended, and men and women went out into the night with tears in their eyes, steel in their hearts, and a sure sense that this day was the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Black and White Americans.

IN THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY PROTEST MOVEMENT EVER MOUNTED AND SUSTAINED BY AFRICAN-AMERICANS, THE BLACK PEOPLE OF MONTGOMERY BOYCOTTED THE BUSES FOR 381 DAYS UNTIL A COURT STRUCK DOWN SEGREGATION AND GAVE THEM A TOTAL VICTORY. THE PROTEST WAS DIRECTED BY THE MONTGOMERY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION, AND LED BY, AMONG OTHERS, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. AND ROSA PARKS. THE BLACK PEOPLE OF MONTGOMERY AND AMERICA WENT ON TO TEAR DOWN THE WALLS OF SEGREGATION AND TO CREATE A NEW SOUTH AND A NEW NORTH. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. WENT ON TO WIN THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE AND ROSA PARKS WENT ON TO WIN AMERICA'S HIGHEST CIVILIAN AWARD, THE MEDAL OF FREEDOM, AND TO BECOME ONE OF THE MOST HONORED WOMEN IN THE WORLD.