Teamwork, Lessons from Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks

Eighth grader Abby shared the character strength of teamwork with all of us at this week’s All School Meeting through a quote that spoke to her: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

This seems a perfect quote as we ready to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. this weekend. There has been much talk about the importance of each of us standing up for what we believe in during the current political environment. It seems we cannot underestimate what both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mrs. Rosa Parks taught us through their lives: that individuals can stand up to powerful forces to create social change and that the power of one can become the power of many.

When I decided to name the Women of Courage Panel in Mrs. Parks’ honor, I realized how little I knew about her the more I read. She had been an activist her entire life and although she was an introvert, she had a beautiful feisty side to her. One of her friends from childhood said, “Nobody ever bossed Rosa around and got away with it.” Mrs. Parks told the story that when she was walking with her little brother, a young white man goaded and derided them, so she picked up a brick and dared the white man to hit her. He backed down. This was at a time when lynchings were commonplace.

When years later she refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man in 1955, Martin Luther King, Jr. was a relatively unknown young minister in Montgomery. As crowds gathered to talk about a possible boycott of the buses after her arrest, Martin Luther King, Jr., inspired by her courageous act, went on to inspire a movement alongside her.

At a time such as the one we are living in, it is critical to remember that your daughters in the coming years will be aware of and even possibly be a participant in a movement of ordinary people across the U.S. who stand for the respect and dignity of all people, who will not be immobilized by fear, but rather as Emily Pilloton from Garage Girls said last night, see fear as an invitation to be brave.

My hope for all of us this weekend and for your daughters is that we will be inspired once more by the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as by Mrs. Parks.

Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963

Let us partner together in hope for your daughters that they will know a nation (that) will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (and women) are created equal.Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963

As always, wishing you the best,

Sandra

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Teamwork, Lessons from Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks

Julia Morgan School for Girls