You probably don't know, but today would have been Rosa Parks' 101st Birthday!
Today we celebrated a woman who with one act, changed a nation. It is because of Rosa Parks, along with many others, that the students I serve come from all different ethnicitys. It's because of great sacrifices for equality that I'm able to serve on a team where together we represent many different cultures. Today is a day to recognize the importance of the people who have gone before us and a day to strive to build a stronger community, nation, and world for all of us! It was also a day for....
cookies, lots of cookies.
Over 900 cookies were donated to help our school celebrate Rosa Parks' birthday from Safeway. (grocery store chain in California) We visited elementary classrooms during the day to talk about why Rosa Parks was so important and then during the middle school lunch we asked them to respond to different questions regarding Rosa Parks. Of course we did get some off the wall answers ( like Rosa Parks built our school or She was a nice black lady. Or she was born in Sacramento) but more than those answers we found that many of our students were aware of the sacrifices she and others like her have made and most of them were able to recognize how her act, that may seem small, can stretch pretty far- so far that we're still striving for equality for all people today.
It was fun talking to first graders this morning and asking them to look around.
I said, "Look around at your classmates. Does everyone look the same? Do we all have the same skin color?
"NO"
"What about your friends? Raise your hand if you have friends that don't look like you, that have a different skin color than you!"
-hands shot up across the room-
It really is insane to think that 50-60 years ago the had I asked the same questions, I would have gotten totally different answers. We have come a long way, but we still have a ways to go! Like I told the kids today, it's up to YOU to be the next Rosa Parks, the next MLK, the next generation to take a stand for what you believe in!
Cheers to you, Rosa Parks! And thank you for the legacy you've left us!
Rosa Parks Rocks! (the school and the beautiful lady it was named after)
ReplyDeleteSammie, I am worried that California is starting to feel more like home. You really fit in well in Sacramento. Rosa Parks School is lucky to have you there. Can you tell somebody in Texas is missing you?