Rosa Parks has left us, passing away today at age 92. But her inspiring legacy from a simple act of non-violent protest lives on. Parks after all is famous for the daring act of not getting up on a bus. That's it: not moving. Because she quietly refused to move, the world today mourns her death - nearly 50 years after her mundane move became an extraordinary event.
On December 1, 1955, Parks refused to get up and move to the back of the bus. Her small act of protest got her arrested - and prompted a small group of local African-American labor leaders and clergy to form the "Montgomery Improvement Association" (MIA). The MIA elected as its president a new 27-year-old minister in town (Martin Luther King, Jr.) and issued demands that in retrospect seeem surprisingly modest:
1) Courteous treatment by bus drivers.
2) First-come first-served seating for black back to front.
3) Hiring black drivers on routes through black neighborhoods.
That's it. A simple act of quiet defiance led to basic demands for change. Of course, the white leadership of Montgomery decided to be defiant, arresting the MIA leadership, denying them easy bail, and allowing King's home to be firebombed. A long 12-month showdown and bus boycott finally ended with a much larger accomplishment: the complete desegregation of Montgomery's buslines.
We should resist drawing simplistic parallels from Parks's simple act. But recalling the civil rights showdown she unwittingly ignited reminds us that small moments of protest can sometimes have the greatest impact. And the modest early demands - e.g., not to have to get up, hiring more black busdrivers - reveals how widescale change in 1955 seemed unimaginable.
As we look forward to the future of the Middle East, the possibility of a region transformed with guaranteed rights for people regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation may be hard to fathom. But just maybe some woman in some city will refuse to take it - even for just one moment - and ignite a much larger movement. Such a woman is likely already out there, waiting for the right moment.
P.S. She might start with the cafes in Morocco.
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