MERGED== R.I.P Rosa Parks: 92 + Mother of the Civil Rights Movement

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They were showing her memorial service last night on CSpan, I was too sleepy to stay awake. Hopefully they might show it again

BY SUZETTE HACKNEY
DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

October 31, 2005

WASHINGTON -- As the family and closest friends of Rosa Parks rode on a bus, weaving along South Capitol to Constitution Avenue in a police-led motorcade, they couldn't believe the masses of people who lined the streets Sunday, clapping, holding signs and candles.

The family was appreciative and overcome with emotion.

"Thank you, D.C.," they yelled out the window. "God bless you."

It was a surreal conclusion to a surreal 18 hours, which began when they landed at Dannelly Field in Montgomery, Ala., at noon Saturday and ended as they shook hands with President George W. Bush and wife, Laura, in the Capitol Rotunda on Sunday evening.

There was little sleep for the nearly 100 people who looped from Detroit to the South and then to the nation's capital on a Southwest Airlines 737 jet. And many said that Parks, who died Oct. 24 at age 92 in Detroit, would not have wanted all the attention.

"My family is really honored, and we are so proud to be related to someone who once again has made history," said Urana McCauley, 29, Parks' great-niece. "Auntie Rosa was so humble and would have said 'Don't do all this for me.' But honestly, I must say that she deserves this."

As their flight left Montgomery after a memorial service on Sunday, chief pilot Lou Freeman circled the southern city where Parks had made a choice to sit, not stand, a decision that changed history. The pilot said that he would dip the wings as a final farewell from Parks.

As the plane dipped dramatically, passengers applauded, including federal Appeals Court Judge Damon Keith, former Judge Adam Shakoor, Parks' longtime assistant Elaine Eason Steele, actress Cicely Tyson, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People president Bruce Gordon and dozens of family members.

Freeman touched down at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport around 5:45 p.m.

Flying Parks' body was an honor for Freeman, who rearranged his schedule to make the flights. As the first African-American chief pilot for any major commercial airline, Freeman wanted to say thanks to Parks for opening the door for him, too.

"Just to be able to participate in this is a great honor," said Freeman, 53. "When I received the phone call that said 'Lou, would you do this for us?' it really didn't take me but two seconds to say yes."
 
Clinton Joins Thousands to Honor Parks

By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN, Associated Press Writer

A soaring rendition of "The Lord's Prayer" moved thousands of mourners at the funeral of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks on Wednesday, with a preacher bidding: "Mother Parks, take your rest."

Former President Clinton, his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and others paid their respects at Parks' open casket before the start of the funeral service that included the prayer in song by mezzo-soprano Brenda Jackson.

Those in the audience held hands and sang "We Shall Overcome" as family members filed past the casket before it was closed just before noon.

Bishop Charles Ellis III of Greater Grace Temple opened the service for 4,000 people packed in to say goodbye to the diminutive figure who sparked a civil rights revolution by refusing 50 years ago to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Ala.

"Mother Parks, take your rest. You have certainly earned it," Ellis said.

Mourners waited in long lines in the chilly morning to honor Parks. Hours before the funeral began, the line to get one of the 2,000 available public seats at the church extended more than two blocks in Parks' adopted hometown.

"The world knows of Rosa Parks because of a single, simple act of dignity and courage that struck a lethal blow to the foundations of legal bigotry," said Clinton, who remembered riding segregated buses in his native Arkansas until Parks' stand allowed him and others to break through that barrier of racism.

Clinton once presented Parks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm called Parks a "heroic warrior for equality."

"Her greatness lay in doing what everybody could do but doesn't," Granholm said. "She was unexpected. She was untitled. ... (She was) an improbable warrior that was leading an unlikely army of waitresses and street sweepers and shopkeepers and auto mechanics."

Prior to the start of the service, black-suited ushers in white gloves escorted people to their seats. Former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry was there, as were Ford Motor Co. Chairman and CEO Bill Ford and the two men vying in next week's election to be the mayor of Detroit: incumbent Kwame Kilpatrick and Freman Hendrix. Members of Congress, national civil rights leaders and those who had known Parks during her nearly half-century in Detroit filled the pews.

The casket was flanked by large bouquets of white flowers and a white cross. Flower arrangements lined the stage steps and scores of choir members sat on or near the stage.

As a white hearse carried Parks' body from the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, where viewing lasted until the pre-dawn hours, dozens of people holding pictures of Parks crowded around it. As it began moving, they shouted, "We love you."
 
DailyKos has this lovely, poignant thought that almost made me cry (i'm also having a bad day and am thusly a wee bit emotional):

[q]If there is one lesson, it is the same lesson as always. There is no wall which will come down, except for one brick at a time.

She stood before a single brick, and pulled it out.
[/q]
 
that's beautiful Irvine

My Pastor talked about Rosa Parks being a saint (it was according to a certain definition that I can't recall, sorry) during his homily last night. I agree. She was always one of my heroes.
 
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