In celebration of Valentine’s Day this year, we decided to dedicate our newsletter to powerful women whose contributions changed or are changing our lives. And we decided to ask you to show your love to these women by tweeting or posting about them on Facebook. Rosa Parks is one of the three women we chose to celebrate this Valentine’s Day.
The other two are Latifa Lewis and Sarah Weddington.
This is why we’re recognizing Rosa Parks:
Earlier this month we celebrated Rosa Parks’ 100th birthday anniversary. On December 1, 1955, this inspirational woman vanquished her fear and choose to remain seated on a segregated Montgomery bus.
Her nonviolent act of resistance gave a much needed spark to the Civil Rights Movement. A month later the Montgomery Bus Boycott was organized and led by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The rest is history.
However, following her arrest, Ms. Parks lost her job and received death threats. She moved to Detroit where she lived in near obscurity and often in poverty, relying on assistance from church groups and friends. She struggled as a seamstress until she started working for John Conyers Jr., an African American US congressman.
As we remember the 100th anniversary of her birth, let us be reminded that the actions of one powerful woman can fuel an entire movement for social justice. Yet powerful women fall through the cracks of history all the time. Let us support the Rosa Parkses of our day, lest they go unnoticed.
Please show your love to Rosa Parks. Tweet or Facebook:
Happy Valentine’s Day, Rosa Parks. Will you be my Valentine? #showyourlove @womensfoundca