Diane Shipley writes of the iconic women we love: past and present...
Rosa Parks.
Or "how not giving up your seat on the bus can start a civil rights revolution"... After Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, she was arrested and tried for her "crime", sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycotts in Alabama in which no black person boarded a bus in the city for over a year, from 5 December 1955, to 20 December 1956. The protest led to the end of segregated buses (they were declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court) and brought the campaigning work of Martin Luther King to the public's attention.
One woman, one small gesture: one massive change. That's truly inspiring.
Thank goodness then, that Rosa lived a long and happy life, only dying in October 2005 at the age of 92. She received a number of awards and honours towards the end of her life, including The Congressional Gold Medal and The Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was also named one of Time magazine's 20 most influential people of the twentieth century and greeted Nelson Mandela on his release from prison, when he said to her: "You sustained me while I was in prison all those years."
If you ever doubt that one person can make a difference to the world, think of Rosa Parks - and think again.
[Picture and some information thanks to Wikipedia].
Who are your favourite female icons, past and present? Let us know!
Diane co-edits Shiny Media’s fabulous women’s fiction blog, Trashionista and contributes to TV Scoop and Catwalk Queen, as well as writing a personal blog, What Do You Do? She even leaves the house occasionally...
