I recently started reading a fascinating book by New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell called The Tipping Point. The premise of the book is that major, groundbreaking societal changes begin with small, seemingly insignificant events. Those events become what the author calls tipping points-- those events and moments in time that cause a movement or idea or mission to catch on.
Gladwell illustrates his theory in case studies that range from the trivial (why Hush Puppies became the in shoe to wear after nearly vanishing from the fashion scene) to historic (why Paul Revere's mission succeeded when William Dawes' identical mission the same night yielded little to no result). Gladwell's theory can be summed up in the cliche phrase "Little things mean a lot."
No moment in history illustrates Gladwell's point quite as clearly as an event that happened on December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama. A quiet, reserved 42 year old seamstress was tired after a long day at work. She didn't set out to do anything historic that day. She was just tired-- physically tired from work, but also spiritually tired of the injustice and indignities she had to endure daily. Rosa Parks was active in the NAACP and had unsuccessfully tried several times to register to vote. But that day, she was just tired, so she quietly refused to give up her seat to a white man. As impossible as it may sound to us today, a black person was required by law to give up their seat on a city bus to a white person.
By remaining seated that day on a yellow city bus in Montgomery, Rosa Parks became the conscience of a nation and inspired the modern civil rights movement. Her act of defiance and courage emboldened her colleagues and shamed her opponents. The civil rights movement in America reached it's tipping point that day.
When she passed away recently at the age of 92, Rosa Parks was mourned by millions. Her casket lay in state at the US Capitol, where the mourners included the President of the United States. This gentle, kind woman of regal bearing became famous because she sat down and then spent the rest of her life standing up for what is right. She shunned the spotlight and never sought to capitalize on her fame and thereby trivialize her act.
Little things do mean a lot. Rosa Parks proved that. In the decades that followed, there would be many acts of courage, many eloquent words spoken, many powerful images that would illustrate the barbaric state of race relations in our country. But no act of courage, no dramatic oratory, no image could surpass the image of Rosa Parks seated on that bus in Montgomery. That improbable act changed a nation. The remarkable woman behind that act will be missed.
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