Macon Phillips, of the Executive Office of the President, tweeted this striking image of President Obama seated in the bus where Rosa Parks initiated her quest for civil rights.
Amazing photo. Just as Rosa Parks wasn't the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, President Obama isn't the end. We still have a long way, but this photo reminds us of how far we've come.
Great picture, but I just thought this - is that the actual bus that Rosa Parks first sat in? How do they know? Did someeone write down the registration number of the bus at the time? Remember, it took a lot of time and action before it became a defining moment. So they noted which bus it was? Why? Who? And they stored the bus all those years? Or maybe, many years later, someone said, we need one of the city buses that could have been the bust that Rosa Parks sat in that day. So they got one and put it in a museum. That's how museums work, that's how stories work, that's how politics work. But we should not be complicit, unless we want to be.
Ivanpope: The know because it's in her arrest record. They know because it was not an isolated incident but part of a bus boycott that Parks was very much at the center of. They know because no it did NOT "take a while for it to become a defining moment." That may be the way it has since been taught in many schools but it's wrong. One google or wiki search, first hit, will answer all your questions (Bus 2857, for instance) and would make you look a little less of a roob and a noob, so you should try it before making sweeping statements on blog comments frequented by you know not whom.
Just a friendly snark to the wise. Don't be that guy.
NotaWarriorPrincess - you were doing really well up to the point where you decided to take a personal punt at me. Informative, useful interesting response. Then you decide to start throwing around terms like noob, ffs. Anyway, you're right and you're not right. The bus number was not recorde on her arrest record and it took a lot of research to establish that this was the bus. They did establish that, but it was a long shot. "When Rosa Parks was arrested on a Montgomery City bus on December 1, 1955, no one officially recorded the number of the bus on which the event occurred. Thus, years later no one was quite sure which bus it was. " http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/rosaparks/faqactual.asp Also, though you say that Parks was at the center of a bus boycott, that's not actually true. Sure, there were ongoing campaigns to find a way to challenge the segregation laws, and these did revolve around buses, but: "Her action was spontaneous and not pre-meditated." My point, born out by the facts, was that her specific action only became a key tipping point in retrospect, and nobody recorded or preserved the bus at the time. Apart from that, you're right, I was wrong. But that's the stuff of history and a good lesson all round.
Sometimes I am ashamed of the actions of my fellow humans and other times I stand in awe of their bravery. It doesn't matter if Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat spontaneously or if it was a planned protest. It was an important then and continues to be today. It is one of the many actions that has led to a better society and the election of America's first black president.
16 comments:
Amazing photo. Just as Rosa Parks wasn't the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, President Obama isn't the end. We still have a long way, but this photo reminds us of how far we've come.
@Isaiah, I agree with you. Sad that in 2012 we still say that.
@Janet - This photo gave me chills...thanks for posting it!
Wow. This is an amazing picture.
Some pictures paint a lot more than a thousand words.
Thanks for this. I'm pinning it to my Pinterest board--inspiration for writing.
If this were Facebook, I'd like it times a thousand.
Finally.
The night he was elected I told my kids, it's about time.
Great pick....thanks.
Powerful pic.
Great picture, but I just thought this - is that the actual bus that Rosa Parks first sat in? How do they know? Did someeone write down the registration number of the bus at the time? Remember, it took a lot of time and action before it became a defining moment. So they noted which bus it was? Why? Who? And they stored the bus all those years?
Or maybe, many years later, someone said, we need one of the city buses that could have been the bust that Rosa Parks sat in that day. So they got one and put it in a museum. That's how museums work, that's how stories work, that's how politics work. But we should not be complicit, unless we want to be.
Wow, this is an amazing photo. Thank you for sharing it. :-)
It's brilliant.
Ivanpope: The know because it's in her arrest record. They know because it was not an isolated incident but part of a bus boycott that Parks was very much at the center of. They know because no it did NOT "take a while for it to become a defining moment." That may be the way it has since been taught in many schools but it's wrong. One google or wiki search, first hit, will answer all your questions (Bus 2857, for instance) and would make you look a little less of a roob and a noob, so you should try it before making sweeping statements on blog comments frequented by you know not whom.
Just a friendly snark to the wise. Don't be that guy.
NotaWarriorPrincess - you were doing really well up to the point where you decided to take a personal punt at me. Informative, useful interesting response. Then you decide to start throwing around terms like noob, ffs.
Anyway, you're right and you're not right. The bus number was not recorde on her arrest record and it took a lot of research to establish that this was the bus. They did establish that, but it was a long shot. "When Rosa Parks was arrested on a Montgomery City bus on December 1, 1955, no one officially recorded the number of the bus on which the event occurred. Thus, years later no one was quite sure which bus it was. "
http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/rosaparks/faqactual.asp
Also, though you say that Parks was at the center of a bus boycott, that's not actually true. Sure, there were ongoing campaigns to find a way to challenge the segregation laws, and these did revolve around buses, but:
"Her action was spontaneous and not pre-meditated."
My point, born out by the facts, was that her specific action only became a key tipping point in retrospect, and nobody recorded or preserved the bus at the time.
Apart from that, you're right, I was wrong. But that's the stuff of history and a good lesson all round.
If "Life" magazine was still around, THIS would be the cover.
I've been on that bus. Sat where she sat. Felt in awe of such a brave woman.
Sometimes I am ashamed of the actions of my fellow humans and other times I stand in awe of their bravery. It doesn't matter if Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat spontaneously or if it was a planned protest. It was an important then and continues to be today. It is one of the many actions that has led to a better society and the election of America's first black president.
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