Rosa Parks was not the first person to refuse to give up their seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. One is Claudette Colvin. March 2, 1955. A 15-year-old schoolgirl refused to move to the back of the bus, nine months before Rosa Parks’ stand that launched the Montgomery bus boycott. Claudette had been studying Black leaders: Harriet Tubman. Sojourner Truth. The bus driver ordered Claudette to get up. She refused. Was arrested; thrown in jail; one of four women challenging the segregation law in court. Claudette’s story is mostly forgotten? NAACP and other Black organizations felt Rosa Parks made a better icon than a teenager. As an adult with the right look, Rosa Parks was also the secretary of the NAACP, well-known and respected – people would associate her with the middle class and that would attract support for the cause. The struggle to end segregation was often fought by young people, more than half–women. [PBS.org] Wednesday, August 28, 1963, 250,000 Americans united at the Lincoln Memorial for the final speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. He stood at the podium; pushing his notes aside. He improvised the most iconic part of his “I Have a Dream Speech.” The night before the march, Dr. King began working on his speech in the Willard Hotel lobby. After delivering the now famous line, “we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream,” Dr. King transformed his speech into a sermon. Mahalia Jackson reportedly kept saying, “Tell ‘em about the dream, Martin.” King continued, “Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream; one deeply rooted in the American dream….” The famous Baptist preacher preached on, adding repetition—outlining the specifics of his dream. While this improvised speech given on that hot, August day in 1963 was not considered a universal success immediately, it is now recognized as one of the greatest speeches in American history. Suppose….. Suppose…Dr. King had been aborted…What a loss!!! Consider conscience? Killing the innocents–the great unborn, many greats murdered through abortion. No voice. Suppose Joseph surrendered Mary for stoning–aborting Jesus the Christ?? “State legislatures in New York and Virginia, among other states, are— considering controversial bills that would significantly expand abortion rights. Andrew Cuomo signed the Reproductive Health Care Act (RHA) into law; allows abortions to be performed by non-doctors up until the moment of birth for many reasons! “The 1983 U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, (proposed by Senators Orrin Hatch and Thomas Eagleton), stated: the [Judiciary] Committee observes that no significant legal barriers of any kind whatsoever exist today in the United States for a woman to obtain an abortion for any reason during any stage of her pregnancy.”
Dr. Jeanette Grattan Parker, Ph.D. Founder/Superintendent Today’s Fresh Start Charter Schools 4514 Crenshaw BL, LA, CA 90043. 323-293-9826 www.todaysfreshstart.orgImage: Claudette Colvin by Phillip Hoose
