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.
A lot of the Speeches from the politicians and ministers were very good and are worth watching, The Big Dog wowed the crowd, Hillary was excellent, Granholm was excellent. Obama was a little reserved but stellar.
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 a former President, Senators, Congressmen, Civil Rights Leaders, Ministers and common people express the impact of the life force that was Mother Rosa.
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”
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.
“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,”
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.”
“One nation under God, where all men and women are created equal and where no person is left behind overlooked and disrespected any longer. “
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
Farrakan rips into T.D. James and other Bush supporters black leaders for being weak and selling out to Bush “the Church must not Dirty its Garment” it is an awesome speech.
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
C-Span Link 6 hours and 48 minutes of the entire event.