It was a full house in the COSI auditorium Wednesday, Dec. 1, when 800 children gathered to hear the story of an Alabama seamstress who changed history.
"You have a special place in our hearts and in our history," said Joyce Beatty, senior vice president for outreach and engagement at OSU. "You are the biggest audience we've had so far since we've been doing this."
The students, along with civic and community leaders, were celebrating the sixth annual Rosa Parks Day.
Students hailed from Fairmoor, Fairwood, Lincoln Park, Ohio Avenue, Olde Orchard and Weinland Park elementary schools, as well as from Champion Middle School.
On Dec. 1, 1955, Parks was arrested in Montgomery for not standing to allow a white bus rider to take her seat.
Parks was breaking an established rule at that time in the South that black riders had to sit at the back of the bus. They were expected to surrender their seat to a white bus rider if needed.
Parks' arrest led to a yearlong boycott of that city's bus system. The U.S. Supreme Court declared Nov. 13, 1956, that Alabama's state and local laws requiring segregation on buses were illegal.
Beatty, as a state representative, partnered with COTA to sponsor the legislation designating Dec. 1 as Rosa Parks Day, making Ohio the first state to do so, in 2005.
"Because of her bravery and courage, a lot of people were able to stand up and demand their civil rights," Beatty said.
Eddie Harrell Jr., Ohio Civil Rights Commission chairman, said he rode a COTA bus Downtown to the Salesian Boys Club when he was a young boy.
"For you to get on a bus, you shouldn't take for granted that you can sit at the front of the bus ... you can sit at the back of the bus ... you can sit anywhere you want on the bus," he said.
"Rosa Parks is one of my heroes," said Archie Griffin, president and CEO of the Ohio State Alumni Association. "In remaining seated on that bus, she took a powerful stand against the racial injustice that permeated America in the 1950s.
"I cannot express to you how much courage it took Rosa Parks to do what she did in that situation," he said.
Griffin, the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner, said he and Parks shared something in common: Neither one would be considered large in size.
"She was only 5-2, but her heart was as big as this entire room," Griffin said.
"Whoever you are, you can make a difference by standing up for what you believe in. If Mrs. Parks could do it, an ordinary person, any one of you can do it. Never underestimate the power of one."
The importance of public transportation in this story was stressed several times during the event.
"We want to help them understand the role that public transit played in sparking a movement that provided people with rights and empowerment that they never had before," said COTA President and CEO Bill Lhota.
"It's an inspirational story that I hope motivates them in their lives."
Lhota took special note of the students from Champion Middle School, saying, "Those students came here on a COTA bus, not on a school bus. They purchased their passes."
"Because of her bravery and courage, a lot of people were able to stand up and demand their civil rights"
الأربعاء ديسمبر 08, 2010 12:51 am
