On This Day in History: Can One Person Really Make a Difference?

On December 1st 1955, a middle aged black woman riding a Montgomery, AL city bus home from work when she and three other black men were told to give up their seats for four white men. Rosa Parks refused to comply and the driver called the police. Her arrest prompted the Montgomery Bus Boycott and is widely credited for being the galvanizing factor that kicked off the Civil Rights Movement that would eventually lead to the most sweeping changes in civil rights laws in the history of the United States.

When asked in a radio interview in 1956 why she decided not to give up her seat Parks replied, "I would have to know for once and for all what rights I had as a human being and a citizen of Montgomery, Alabama."

So, the next time you think that one person, or one action no matter how small it may seem, won't make a difference, remember Rosa Parks. Remember also that choosing not to act when you know acting is the right thing to do, all because your effort won't make any difference doesn't make for good reasoning, but does make a person at best apathetic and at worst a coward.

If you would like to read more about Rosa Parks and this event you can go to:
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/rosa+parks