I was born in Tuskegee, Alabama February 4, 1913.
The World I was born in was at war.
As a child I was a might puny and I had tonsillitis often.
I grew up just outside of Montgomery on a farm.
I dropped out of School to care for my grandmother.
Due to the Jim Crow Laws there was Racial Segregation in the South.
Buses were not available for Black children.
“I'd see the bus pass every day ... But to me, that was a way of life; we had no choice but to accept what was the custom. The bus was among the first ways I realized there was a black world and a white world.”
I remember my grandmother guarding the front door,
With a shot gun because the KKK marched down our street.
"As far back as I remember, I could never think in terms of accepting physical abuse without some form of retaliation if possible."
In December 1955 I was travelling on the Cleveland Avenue Bus,
In downtown Montgomery.
I paid my fare and sat in the Colored Section.
As we travelled along the White-only section filled up and the Bus
Driver moved the Colored Section sign.
“When that white driver stepped back toward us, when he waved his hand and ordered us up and out of our seats, I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter night”
I was a arrested and thrown in jail.
“People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
After this I received death threats, I couldn’t find work,
I moved to Detroit but found segregation there.
At age 81 I was robbed and assaulted by Joseph Skipper
an African American man.
Many gains have been made ... But as you can see, at this time we still have a long way to go."
Rosa Parks died on October 24 2005 at the age of 92.
City officials in Montgomery and Detroit announced on October 27, 2005, that the front seats of their city buses would be reserved with black ribbons in honour of Parks until her funeral. Parks' coffin was flown to Montgomery and taken in a horse-drawn hearse .
Some people see this world as cold and dark as Night.
Others shine a light, and open their hearts to what is Right.
-
Author:
David Wakeling (
Offline) - Published: June 22nd, 2025 00:22
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 7
- Users favorite of this poem: Poetic Licence
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Comments4
A beautiful tribute to a woman of courage and grit. Nicely worded in the first person to make it all the more personal. Well done David
She was an extraordinary women.Thank you for commenting compadre
a wonderful tribute
Thank you mi amigo
welcome
A wonderful write about an amazing woman, someone who was strong, determined, brave against all the odds, evils and people she was determined to stand up for what was right, a true compassionate human being
Yes indeed she was an amazing woman.Thanks for commenting
You are very welcome
Excellent write David
Excellent comment Tony36
You're welcome
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