Whatever my individual desires were to be free, I was not alone. There were many others who felt the same way. |
When the history of this country is written, when a final accounting is done, it is this small, quiet woman whose name will be remembered long after the names of senators and presidents have been forgotten. |
When they stood up and I stayed where I was, he asked me if I was going to stand and I told him that 'no, I wasn't,' and he told me if I did not stand up he was going to have me arrested. And, I told him to go on and have me arrested, |
Why do you all push us around? |
You may do that, |
You treated her with deference because she was so quiet, so serene -- just a very special person, |
[He said Parks' death also made him reflect on the many other African-Americans who had similarly refused to abide by the rules of segregation, but whose names are largely lost to history.] I kept asking myself today, what made this different, ... I think what made it different was people were willing to stand behind her. |
[Some of her early memories were of white people who treated blacks kindly, particularly a Yankee soldier who said she was cute and] treated me like I was just another little girl, not a little black girl, ... Rosa Parks: My Story. |