Yesterday, November 2nd 2005, the life and spirit of
Rosa Parks was celebrated here in Detroit. For the attendees and many more around the world Senator Barack Obama's words ring true:
"The woman we honored today held no public office, she wasn't a wealthy woman, didn't appear in the society pages. And yet when the history of this country is written, it is this small, quiet woman whose name will be remembered long after the names of senators and presidents have been forgotten."
Highlights videos, post excerpts and a link to the entire stream from Cspan are below.
First a little music to set the mood:
Stefaenee Morrison - Hymn of Celebration
I do not know about the rest of the country, but here in the Detroit area, this was a huge event. Tens of thousands braved the cold for hours for a chance to view Mother Rosa's remains at the Charles Wright Museum day and night. Thousands more people of all colors and from around the nation and the world waited over night in the cold for a chance to see the ceremony. We were overjoyed to see the Presidents, Senators, Congressmen, Civil Right Leaders, Ministers and common people express the impact of the life force that was Mother Rosa.
Thanks to Hunter's FP post, many Kossacks had an opportunity to express their thoughts on the life and message of Mother Rosa, some of which are excerpted below. In addition, a veritable who's who of Democratic politicans and Civil Rights Activists from President William Jefferson Clinton through the Minister Farrakan spoke over the course of the 7 hour ceremony.
My favorite, the Rev. Charles Adams - "I wish I had 10,000 toungues just to say Thank You"
Update [2005-11-3 12:52:12 by BTower]: Dr. Joseph Lowery One of the Best Speeches of the Day
Dr. Jonnie Carr - 94 yearold lifetime friend of Mother Parks and Montgomery Activist
"As many things started in many places, there is nothing started like the fire Rosa Parks started. ... A woman sat down and the world turned around. ... If Rosa Parks is looking down from the balcony of glory, she'd say, 'Don't stop now, there's still work to be done.' "
The Rev. Bernice King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Former President Bill Clinton
"Now that our friend Rosa Parks is gone on to that just reward ... let us never forget in that simple act ... she showed us every single day what it means to be free. She made us see and agree that everyone should be free,"
Congressman John Conyers
Congressman John Dingell
Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm
"Rosa Parks was lain in honor in our nation's capital in the great rotunda that's reserved only for war heroes and presidents, but she was not a president. She was, though, a war hero. She was a heroic warrior for equality, and my God, surely that is enough for a nation to celebrate.
"But she was also a warrior for the everyman and the everywoman. ... A warrior that was protected in this army by the piercing weapons of love and nonviolence more powerful than any army before and since. What has been written of Gandhi is certainly true for Rosa Parks. Her greatness lay in what everybody could do but doesn't."
Senator Hilary Clinton
"One nation under God, where all men and women are created equal and where no person is left behind overlooked and disrespected any longer. "
Senator Carl Levin
Senator Barack Obama
Jesse Jackson
The Reverend Jesse Jackson gave Rosa Parks' eulogy. He spoke of many ways the country could honor Parks...calling on President Bush to call a conference on civil rights...50 years after her act of defiance on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. He also supported the idea of placing a life-sized statue of Rosa Parks in the halls of Congress.
"If John Calhoun can be there...and General Robert E- Lee and Jefferson Davis. Men who engaged in sedition, secession, slavery, segregation and treason...just maybe we need a guardian angel to watch over them in the halls of Congress."
Louis Farrakhan, Nation of Islam
Al Sharpton, president, National Action Network
"when you have a nation respond looking for weapons of mass destruction that are not there, but can't see a hurricane in Louisiana that is there. ... James Crow Jr. Esquire"
"When we leave here, we ought to make a Rosa resolution. You ought to make one commitment in her name to yourself. You ought to resolve that you are going to do something that makes a difference because we're here because she made a difference
Bishop T.D. Jakes
C-Span Link
[Update]800,000 said farewell, city finds
Nearly 800,000 mourners turned out from Monday night to Wednesday night to pay their final respects to civil rights legend Rosa Parks, according to the Detroit Mayor's Office and Police Department.
Some 700,000 stood in line outside the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History from 9 p.m. Monday to 5 a.m. Wednesday, where Parks' body lay in honor.
Just more than 5,000 mourners jammed into Greater Grace Temple, where the funeral service was held -- filling the 4,000-capacity sanctuary, 150 seats added to the sanctuary, 800 seats in an overflow room and 60 seats in the pulpit.
An estimated 85,000 stood outside Greater Grace Temple, on street corners, in front of businesses, in parking lots -- even in the traffic lanes of 7 Mile, Livernois, 8 Mile and Woodward -- just to get a glimpse of the grand processional led by the white 1940 LaSalle that carried Parks' body to its final resting place at Woodlawn Cemetery.