WisPolitics Budget Blog

I am late arriving to the blog tributes of Rosa Parks. But it is always the same, a rush to write, and then in reflection, everyone blew the same note.

As I surfed all the tributes, I found a comment of hers that struck me like a splash of water;

I did not get on the bus to get arrested. I got on the bus to go home.

To me, Rosa Parks was a manifestation of the existence of a Divine Being. God made an appearance on that day in Montgomery, Alabama, 1955. By inspiring one person to make a grand gesture, He spoke to the conscience of millions of people.

Left to her own, Rosa Parks would have sat there, arrived home, made dinner and gone to bed. The wheels of segregation would have creaked and wobbled and continued. Yet, nothing so egregious, so repugnant, can live on. God knows who can carry the weight. God knows who can change the culture.

So I honor Rosa Parks as a giant alongside previous posts of giants Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul.

The power of an individual, when inspired by something greater than themselves, is indomitable.