As a commemoration of both Black History Month and Women’s History Month, Fairfield University welcomed the author of “The Rebellious Life of Rosa Parks,” Dr. Jeanne Theoharis, a distinguished professor of political science at CUNY Brooklyn, as a guest speaker.
In her lecture, which took place on Wed., March 4 in the Aloysius P. Kelley Center Presentation Room, Theoharis discussed the major points of the life of Rosa Parks that she wrote about in her biography of the famous civil rights activist.
For Theoharis, the initial purpose of her lecture was “to give people a scope of her life history of her rebellion and political activities.”
Theoharis emphasized that what students are taught about Parks in their elementary years is not necessarily the full story, challenging students to ask “why do we get the stories we get?” and “why did you learn it the way you learned it?” She explained that most students associate Parks primarily with her famous refusal to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger, but that there is more to Parks than just that.
After acknowledging this, Theoharis gave students a more detailed biography of Parks’ life in her lecture, including insight into the other monumental events in her life aside from the notorious bus incident, such as her lesser-known ejections from buses and establishing the Civil Rights Voting Act of 1965.
For Dr. Elizabeth Hohl, visiting assistant professor of history, this lecture was “an opportunity to learn from the scholar who’s immersed herself in the sources, so she’s telling a story that still resonates.”
Hohl added that Parks’ view that “young people are the future” makes this discussion all the more pertinent for college students, citing this as one of the major reasons she encouraged her students to attend Theoharis’ lecture.
Despite the fact that Rosa Parks’ fight for civil rights happened more than 50 years ago, according to Theoharis, her push for social justice is still relevant today.
“Racial and social inequalities are still with us,” Theoharis said, referencing the recent Ferguson trial. “The story of Rosa Parks shows us ways to be active and struggle today. It gives us tools for what to do today,”
Theoharis hoped that through her lecture, students were able to grasp the “perseverance and persistence” Parks showed in her civil rights activism, and her “ability to see an injustice and both believe no matter how small or big the thing is, to keep doing it over and over, and that it’s not going to work at first.”
Hohl agreed that the fact that Parks “pursued social justice when she was a young woman and there was no hope of succeeding, and that she really committed herself” and vowed to “not quit until there’s social justice everywhere,” makes her a viable role model and someone “worth emulating.”
For Julia Aparicio ‘16, Parks’ “civil activism is still very much relevant today,” noting causes such as “gaps in education, opportunity and achievement in our nation’s school systems.”
Aparicio added that “looking to Parks for inspiration, we know that we need to be courageous and persistent in our attempt to tackle such social injustices- these gaps will not be closed overnight.
According to Theoharis, her inspiration for writing “The Rebellious Life of Rosa Parks” came from her discovering that “there’s no serious biography about her. There’s a gazillion children’s books, young adult books, school books, but there’s not a serious, foot-noted biography.”
For this reason, Theoharis wanted to pay Parks homage with a more substantial biography that doesn’t display her as “a children’s book hero,” like the other biographies.
Hohl felt that the lecture was a success, saying “we had to add extra chairs, which was wonderful, and the questions were terrific on the part of the students.”
Julia Aparicio agreed, saying Theoharis did a good job in “building off of well-accepted notions of Parks’ life galvanizing a year long bus boycott, bringing Dr. Martin Luther King to fame, and launching the Civil Rights Voting Act of 1965- to debunk many of the common myths that still surround her life and legacy.”
She added that Theoharis’ speech was truly “an eye-opening experience,” for her.
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