What if Rosa Parks had...an Ipod?

As you know, Rosa Parks passed away a few days ago. As a child, I learned that she just "decided" one day to not get up from the white section of the bus. Though she is now heralded as the mother of the Civil Rights movement of the 60s, the real story--that dozens of people had done the same thing before her, that there had been some serious organizing going on all culminating with Parks not moving from her seat--is rarely told.

A friend sent me this link and it is what spurrs me to post the below letter to the editor that the State PIRG's Higher Education campaign is getting printed across the country. Seriously, WHAT THE FUCK is Apple thinking!? How DARE they compare themselves to a woman who literally put her LIFE on the line in the name of CIVIL RIGHTS!? It makes me want to throw my ipod on the ground and stamp on it. Almost.


ROSA PARKS AND THE FIGHT FOR OPPORTUNITY

Yesterday Rosa Parks died at age 92. As the woman who wouldn’t go to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama so many years ago, she is widely considered the mother of the civil rights movement.

It is hard not to be moved by this sweet, practical woman who dedicated herself to doing what she could to create equal opportunity for African Americans in this country. She spent 12 years working at her local NAACP chapter and even attended training at the civil rights organizing school, the Highlander Center in Tennessee, to advance her views. Her courage and conviction to refuse to leave her seat became a tipping point in our country’s history. It galvanized an entire generation to review the kind of society we want to live in, to admit that our country’s actions at the time did not stack up to our words of freedom and justice for all. And ultimately we decided to change and our decision makers responded.

Many of the decisions that came out of the civil rights struggle for freedom are not only notable for their impact on our country’s social fabric, but also notable in that they continue to inspire and motivate us even today. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Higher Education Act of 1965, were all passed to ensure equal opportunity for Americans of all socioeconomic backgrounds, so that no one could be denied their fundamental right to be the best they can be.

In the next week, Congress will move to gut the student loan programs and make it harder for students from all incomes and ethnicities to access and afford a higher degree. This move reminds us that despite the improvements, despite the advancements, we must not take freedom for granted. We must take our lesson from Rosa, whose accomplishments came about because she chose to stand up for her views again and again. Unless regular people like her speak up for the standard they find acceptable for our country, then our decision makers will not take us in the direction we seek.

We have made choices about society that are based on our respect for one another as individuals, as neighbors and community members, and as advocates for freedom and opportunity on the world’s stage. And with the right voices speaking up, we can do it again.

Rosa Parks, rest in peace. Yours was a life that will continue to push us onward and upward for years to come.