A little commentary on history.

Rosa Parks died last night, as I'm sure many people heard. Maybe this is a bit corny, but I rarely make a big deal about the passing of a person that was important to history. So give me a break and let me say something about Rosa Parks.

Why do I see her as a key figure in the history of our country? Sure, the whole bus thing was a big deal and shouldn't be taken for granted. However, what I see as the vital part of understanding Rosa Parks is this: there was nothing particularly special about her. She was shy. She didn't want to be in the spotlight. She was not an especially gifted speaker. She was not really recognized as a charismatic leader. In other words, Rosa Parks wasn't all that much different than any other person. What made Rosa Parks special was her guts. She wasn't just a seamstress that decided that she was too tired to move seats. Her education was civil-rights based. Deciding to stand up was a decision, not a convenience. However, this was the type of decision any of us could make if we had the guts.

Many of the people that influenced civil rights in the U.S. were given gifts that gave them an advantage in their fights. Frederick Douglass was very intelligent and had the ability to bring together people of differing opinions. Martin Luther King was a charismatic leader with an incredible gift of speech.

I don't want to make it sound like I think Rosa Parks was not a big deal when, in fact, I think just the opposite. Rosa Parks embodied everything that is great about our country and everything that could be better. She was not only a living icon of positive change, but a model of just how powerful the "average" person can be if we could just get some guts.

Unfortunately, most of today's poliyicians don't have the guts to stand up for anything. They do what their party tells them and nothing that could cost them re-election. We need more people to be like Rosa Parks.