Rosa Parks is known as the mother of the civil rights movement. In the past, African- American people were segregated and forced to give up their seats to white passengers on the bus or stand back while white customers were served fi rst at the supermarket. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man. This sparked huge protests. She, along with many others, had the courage to stand up for what she believed in – equal rights for all. This poem is written in dedication to her.
Rosa Parks By Jan Dean
she sorts the drawer knives at the left forks at the right spoons in the middle like neat silver petals curved inside each other
the queue sorts itself snaking through the bus whites at the front blacks at the back
but people are not knives not forks not spoons
their bones are full of stardust their hearts full of songs and the sorting on the bus is just plain wrong
so Rosa says no and Rosa won’t go to the place for her race
she’ll face up to all the fuss but she’s said goodbye to the back of the bus
