Back of the Bus

"It was so unbelievable that this woman -- this one woman -- had the courage to take a seat and refuse to get up and give it up to a white gentleman. By sitting down, she was standing up for all Americans."
--U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia

Rosa Parks, basically the woman responsible for the entire modern civil rights movement, died yesterday. She was a real icon in today's society. Her act of defiance inspired blacks in Montgomery, Alabama to form the Montgomery Improvement Association, and name one Martin Luther King Jr as its leader. They then proceeded to boycott bus transportation for 381 days, until the U.S. Supreme Court settled that Montgomery's segregated bus service was unconstitutional. Rosa Parks inspired many people, black AND white, to join the civil rights movement, too many to name. She proved that it truly is possible for one person to change the world. For that, she will be missed.