Thursday morning. Its only "I" and I up. One of those quiet mornings with the darkness still settled around us. I sip my coffee and am at peace with myself. Both doors open and the cool breeze surrounds me. I am grateful to be alive.
I have been thinking since my talk with Bradley the other day. As he told me who he thought were great men. He stopped all of a sudden and pointed at his chest. "It doesn't matter Grandma what we look like on the outside, its whats we're like inside." I wanted to hug him. The concept is so simple but many people just can't get their minds around it. It doesn't matter if you're tall, short, thin or fat. If your hair is green pink or purple. If you have tattoos, a ring in your nose or you are just the average Joe. We all are the same, are blood still flows, we breath, we eat and sleep. The difference in us is how we feel with our hearts. How we treat others.
I saw a talk show back in the seventies. There was a doctor that had written a book on,"Out of body experiences." You know people who have been pronounced dead, but started breathing again. He said that all their stories had one thing in common. They saw Jesus, he asked one question,"What have you done for your fellow man?" To me thats pretty deep.
Some people are so bound up with prejudices, filled with hate and anger at another race, another's sexual preference. Its scary really. And though many of us don't believe that way, we sit in a group of people and let someone ramble on, spewing their hate with angry, hurtful words. When does one say, enough. This isn't right. "Arron Tippin," had a song that had a line. "You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything." There comes a time when as a responsible adult you have to say, this is not right. You have to stand up and be counted for what you think is right. How sad to live our life's never standing and speaking up against a injustice. That's what Rosa Parks did, and in doing that one act triggered a movement that has changed the face of America. Not that there is not still prejudice but we have come such a long way. I have included a short version of what happened to Rosa Parks that day. I want to thank Bradley for his clear youthful version of how we as humans should act. If you happen to read this today forgive me for my preachy spirit but in the words of Bradley."Its how you treat others that really counts."
ROSA PARKS
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old African American woman who worked as a seamstress, boarded this Montgomery City bus to go home from work. On this bus on that day, Rosa Parks initiated a new era in the American quest for freedom and equality.
She sat near the middle of the bus, just behind the 10 seats reserved for whites. Soon all of the seats in the bus were filled. When a white man entered the bus, the driver (following the standard practice of segregation) insisted that all four blacks sitting just behind the white section give up their seats so that the man could sit there. Mrs. Parks, who was an active member of the local NAACP, quietly refused to give up her seat.
Her action was spontaneous and not pre-meditated, although her previous civil rights involvement and strong sense of justice were obvious influences. "When I made that decision," she said later, “I knew that I had the strength of my ancestors with me.”
She was arrested and convicted of violating the laws of segregation, known as “Jim Crow laws.” Mrs. Parks appealed her conviction and thus formally challenged the legality of the Jim Crow law.
I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free... so other people would be also free.
Rosa Parks
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