A Day with Mrs. Parks

In 1992, I had the honor of meeting Rosa Parks.  I was a teacher at the new Rosa Parks Middle School in Olney, MD.  Mrs. Parks had been invited to come and speak at the school's dedication to help the community honor the school that had been named in honor of her life-long work in civil rights and education support.  I was chosen to be her 'chauffer' for the day and jumped at  the chance.  When I arrived at the door of her cousin's house in nearby Upper Marlboro, MD, Mrs. Parks herself greeted me and another teacher at the door and welcomed us in.  Quite a surprise to us – as she was quite a celebrity in our eyes.

What I really appreciated right away was that she didn't see herself as a celebrity – just a woman who did the right thing at the right time and didn't back down in the face of difficulty.  She did have a personal secretary, a Mrs. Steele, who accompanied her and helped with all the demands that this vibrant 82 year old lady put on herself.  They were both very enjoyable to talk with.  Mrs. Parks was so full of energy, it was hard to believe she was over 60.  There are two things she said in particular that stand out to me.  When  we pulled up in front of the school, she slid up to the window of the car like a little girl seeing the big city for the first time, and said, “Look at big and new this place is.”  This surprised me because I had assumed this icon of the Civil Rights movement must have miriad buildings and schools named after her.  To my surprise, Mrs. Steele said that all the buildings named after her had been older structures, renamed in her honor – RPMS was the first, brand new building.  The second thing she said that day that stuck in my mind was that she didn't refuse to stand up because she was physically tired, but because she was tired of being treated like she wasn't a worthy human being.

Mrs. Parks lived another 10 or so years, and that day that I got to spend with was one of the most memorable that I have ever spent with anyone.  After working at NASA for 5 years, and meeting astronauts, world class scientists, and even presenting before the Queen of England, Rosa Parks is the person I remember most.  Her couragous act to remain in that seat, and then to use her influence to raise others up is what separates her from all the others.  She made a real difference in our country, in our world, and in that little community of Olney, Maryland.  Thank you, Rosa.

--John L., Middle School Teacher, Maryland

I traveled from California with my family to go to the Inauguration. On Inauguration Day, we got up at 4:00 in the morning. It was so bitter cold and dark, you could barely even see where you were going. When we got to the metro station, pretty much all of the trains were packed, but we managed to squeeze onto one of them. Finally we reached our destination, downtown Washington, D.C. The police gave us horrible directions to the Mall and obviously were not prepared. It was very frustrating. Before we even got to the Mall, we figured out from calling a couple people who were watching it on TV, that the Mall was already packed.

After all that walking, we ended up at the Washington Monument. We were trying to watch it on the Jumbotron (the big TV screen) that they had set up there, but there were so many people in front of us (which included a guy who was wearing a top hat) that it was hard to even see the screen.

But what really matters is that I heard Barack Obama get sworn in as our new president.  It was such an amazing experience for me, especially since I'm African American. It's great to know that I was there to see history being made forever!

By Whitney L., California, USA