The great irony is that the bus driver’s name was James Blake – the bus driver who told Rosa Parks to give up her seat on the bus shared the same first and last name with the BMCC professor who would come to order her a chauffeured limousine each time she visited New York City.
On Thursday, December 8, Professor James Blake of Student Affairs held a memorial service for his friend Mrs. Rosa Parks to honor her life’s work. He began the service by telling the crowd of students, staff, and faculty about the memorial service for Mrs. Parks that was held in Washington, D.C. “As we made our way to the Capitol,” he said, “tens of thousands of people sang ‘We Shall Overcome.’”
Professor Blake then invited the BMCC crowd to stand, hold hands, and sing the old gospel song. A soloist with a strong, clear voice led.
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
Oh, deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome some day
Verse by verse, the BMCC community, representing various races, ethnicities, and backgrounds, sang and swayed. When the soloist began the fourth verse, Professor Blake exclaimed, “Oh yeah! That’s right!” as though he had forgotten and was pleased to remember. The crowd responded to his enthusiasm by singing louder.
We are not afraid
We are not afraid
We are not afraid some day
Blake then showed a series of film clips of Mrs. Parks at various functions and appearances. It was sobering and inspiring to hear her discuss the events of that infamous day and time – Montgomery, Alabama, 1955. “The driver’s actions indicated that he did not believe I was a human being,” she said.
Cut to a clip of Professor Blake, “Three other black people gave up their seats. ‘Make it light on yourself,’ said the bus driver. That was back when they killed a black person for looking wrong.”
Cut to a clip of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Nobody can doubt the boundless outreach of [Mrs. Parks’] integrity. There comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression.”
Back to Mrs. Parks, “Race relations were considered good [in Alabama in 1955] because too few of us complained and too few white people saw the evil of their ways.”
But if Mrs. Parks’ mission can be summed up in a few words, those words are freedom, equality, justice, and good will. And if her message can be summed up as well, it is that one person can make a difference.
The memorial service finished the way it started, with singing. Another soloist shared another spiritual, a spiritual particularly appropriate for the memorial service of a woman who had dedicated her life to furthering civil rights.
I’m going up a yonder…
I’m going up a yonder…
I’m going up a yonder…
To be with my Lord.
