Fighting for Freedom and Equality: Alone
It’s December 5 1955. After a severely long day of work at the department store, I quickly jumped on the bus and began my journey towards home. I was alone. Just me and one other man on the bus:who happened to white. I began to sink into my seat: allowing the tension in my shoulders to crawl, rounding my spine, and slouching for just a moment. I gazed out the window as my mind wandered in different places. Looking at the dark, damaged road, with the light blue sky and green grass in the background. Thinking about my gratitude towards humility, nature, and family. My eyes began to well up. “When am I going to change this world?” I thought to myself. Craving freedom, expression, individuality, and independence to increase my happiness and decrease my stress. This sparked a thought; I immediately rummaged through my purse. I grabbed a black marker and wrote a note on the bottom of the bus seat: Parks, 1955. Freedom for all, no matter how big or small.
The bus came to a swift stop. As I continued to finish writing my note, I heard footsteps begin to get louder and louder. I turned my head and a large, stern man was standing in front of me.
“You know the drill, pack it up. I will be taking over this seat. Please move.” The mad man said.
I took a deep breath, and looked the man right in the eye, “No thank you. I would like to stay seated.”
The man could not grasp what he was hearing. “Excuse me? Why don’t we try this again. Pack your stuff or I am calling the police.”
“With all due respect, sir, there are plenty of empty seats on this bus. However, this is not one of them.”
“You’re gonna be sorry.” The man threatened me.
He quickly ran off the bus while dialing on his cell phone simultaneously. I had won. I knew the repercussions were going to be great, but I simply struggled to care. I had just made history, and felt invincible because of it.
Within ten minutes of the bus not moving, a white police officer barged onto the bus; screaming my name.
“Where is she? Rosa Parks. Are you her?” He looked at me while pointing rather unprofessionally.
“I am she.” I expressed quietly and calmly.
“Let’s go. You are being taken to the station and are off this bus.”
I sat in a cell for three days. With no regret. But a whole lot of pride, compassion, and gratitude. “I may spend the majority of my life in prison, but one day I will conquer racism.” I thought to myself.
On day four, I had a visitor. Shockingly. Martin Luther King Jr. slowly walked into the room. My eyes (once again) welled up. But for a different reason this time. Seeing his face gave me a glimpse into tomorrow. Knowing that despite the length of my sentencing, the world has leaders that are going to continue to put an end to this nightmare. “Let’s get you out of here.” King stated.
I simply nodded my head and followed his lead. We had escaped.
King was scheduled to present a speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. He asked me if I wanted to speak out against the officers, police force, and justice system in regards to seats on the bus. I agreed with no hesitation whatsoever. It was my time to bring a microphone to the voiceless.
“When I sat down on the bus the day I was arrested, I was thinking of going home. I had made up my mind quickly about what it was that I had to do, what I felt was right to do. I did not think of being physically tired or fearful. After so many years of oppression and being a victim of the mistreatment that my people had suffered, not giving up my seat- and whatever I had to face after not giving it up- was not important. I did not feel any feat at sitting in the seat I was sitting in. All I felt was tired. Tired of being pushed around. Tired of seeing the bad treatment and disrespect of children, women, and men just because of the colour of their skin. Tired of the JIm Crow laws. Tired of being oppressed. I was just plain tired. (Courtesy of Parks, Quiet Strength. 17).”
“You can arrest me and attempt to keep me in prison until the day I die, but whether I’m incarcerated or not, I will stop at nothing to provide Freedom to all, and be the voice for those who are silenced…”
Reflection
In my adaptation of Rosa Parks’ journey, I very much wanted to establish events that took place, but capture the essence of why she had stayed seated, and why her silent actions were fighting for the voiceless. By incorporating Martin Luther King Jr. I felt that this was a way to connect Parks’ voiceless actions, in a more vocal and abrupt manner. Going through accurate representations of events that took place, but incorporating different dialogue, nature, and atmospheres, took the truth within the story to another level.
Personally, I believe that if Parks had the opportunity to elaborate in a public manner to support her reasoning for her actions on the bus, many more people would be aligned in her decision-making to put her foot down. The mixed reasoning came from a miscommunication on whether the reasoning was due to being tired or because she wanted to stand up for herself and Freedom. Giving her the opportunity to express that reasoning and her journey, would help gain the audience's trust and understanding.
I wanted her voiceless actions to be given a loud voice for all to hear. I did this by incorporating more quotations of what I imagine would transpire between her and the other people involved, and also incorporated quotations that she actually did say when expressing her reasoning for her actions.
I very much enjoyed writing this and expanding my imagination on such a pivotal and controversial topic in history. Leaving a sense of suspense, but focusing more on the thought process of Parks and less on the events that took place, resulted in a piece relating solely on her perspective and reasoning for her actions. “Freedom” was a word that was used multiple times that held plenty of significance. “Freedom” then branched into words such as “invincible”, “independence”, and “respect” that were all factors that Parks craved throughout her journey. Direct address was used when going through her thoughts, as well as her conversations with Martin Luther King Jr. and the police officer. This also reached a larger target audience for people of all colour, age types, and country they live in. Given that this event played a big role in history, a piece of writing like this would be relevant to multiple age groups. Repetition was also used when describing the necessity of “Freedom” and why Parks had such a longing for this. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed expanding on such a big moment in history.
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