2006_12_01_archive

Rosa Parks Day

On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, an African American seamstress, defied

the law by refusing to give up her seat to a white man aboard a

Montgomery, Alabama, city bus. Parks was arrested, sparking a

year-long boycott of the buses by blacks that rippled across the

country to change attitudes and laws. Although I grew up hearing that

she was tired and simply wanted to stay seated after a long day of

work, in recent years I have come to learn that she made a conscious

decision to protest by staying put. Learn more about this story from

Nikki Giovanni's picture book, Rosa (Holt, 2005) illustrated by Bryan

Collier. Herself a poet, Giovanni has created a moving narrative

tribute to Rosa Parks, as an individual and as a force for change in

America. Collier's watercolor-and-collage illustrations depict Parks

as an inspiring force that radiates golden light. The book won both a

Caldecott honor distinction and Coretta Scott King medal.

Then follow up with three poem tributes. First share, two poems about

Rosa Parks, one by Carole Boston Weatherford in Remember the Bridge

(Philomel, 2002), and another by J. Patrick Lewis,"The Many and the

Few" in Lives; Poems About Famous Americans selected by Lee Bennett

Hopkins (HarperCollins, 1999). Then, reach back for the classic poem

by Countee Cullen, "Incident," a vivid picture of racism that begins,

"Once riding in old Baltimore." Here, sadly, an eight-year-old child

experiences bigotry on the bus firsthand. The Cullen poem can be found

in many anthologies including a picture book collection compiled by

Wade Hudson for younger readers, Pass It On: African American Poetry

for Children, illustrated by Floyd Cooper (Scholastic, 1993) or for

older readers, I, Too, Sing America: Three Centuries of African