Rosa Parks’ Courage

Today is the anniversary of Rosa Parks’ arrest after she refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus. Ms. Parks’ action led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott and eventually to a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court. The United States Supreme Court in Browder v. Gayle determined that segregated buses are unconstitutional. You may be interested in the United States Courts’ video about how Parks’ arrest sparked this historic ruling.

I also had the privilege of honoring Rosa Parks in 2011 in the “Power of One” celebration when the Ohio Supreme Court’s women justices discussed how one person can make a difference.

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The Power of One

Last month Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and Justices Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, Yvette McGee Brown and I spoke at an event honoring Rosa Parks, the “Mother of the Modern Civil Rights Movement.” Ohio was recently recognized in the U.S. Congress as the first state to officially observe Rosa Parks Day.

Our Nov. 30 panel was part of a two-day tribute to Parks, who in December 1955 refused to give up her bus set to a white passenger, an event that sparked tremendous publicity and progress for civil rights for African Americans. She exemplifies the “power of one.”

Like Rosa Parks, who had the courage of her convictions, we as individuals have our own ripple effect on those in our world. Each of us has special talents, gifts we’ve been given and that we’re expected to use and develop. As we four justices spoke about our own experiences, we showed how each one of us has pursued a unique path to our present judicial positions. We are individuals with the “power of one,” but we work together to create a collegial court, one that deliberates for better judicial decisions. Our combined work is the power of one Supreme Court that works for all Ohioans.