Aumua Amata remembers how she came to know Rosa Parks
November 01, 2005

Reprinted from Samoa News

"ROSA PARKS HAD A FIRM AND QUIET STRENGTH"

I first became familiar with Rosa Parks when I worked for House Conference Chairman JC Watts, the only African American ever to make it to "The Big Four" in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives or Senate. Congressman Watts kept in touch with this quiet, soft-spoken lady and listened to her advice. She was fond of him and treated him as a son.

JC's story is fascinating. As the first black Republican elected in a Southern state to a federal office in 120 years, he garnered attention soon after his election by declining to join the Congressional Black Caucus. During his remarkable tenure in Congress, he earned a reputation as a lawmaker with a special oratorical gift and a charismatic persona that his constituents and Americans across the country have come to know and admire. Fellow congressmen quickly recognized his leadership qualities and elected him chairman of the House Republican Conference, the fourth-highest position in the House, in 1998. He was unopposed in his re-election to this leadership position in 2000.

In 2002 he decided not to run for re-election to spend more time with his family. Many African American leaders tried to discourage him from retiring from Congress. One of those celebrities was Rosa Parks. When she heard JC wanted to leave Congress, she tried to talk him out of it. She felt that it was JC's responsibility and indeed, obligation to his people to continue in Congress. She was not able to convince him to remain but she and many others, tried.

Those of us close to Chairman Watts felt sad that this perceptive and passionate young man would give up Congress and all its trappings. And yet, JC felt he had already missed way too many Parent Teacher Association meetings and that his children were growing up without him. JC always believed that the only real legacy parents leave behind is their children and how well they are prepared for the future. He was right.

I'll never forget the delicate softness of Rosa Parks's voice, it was almost like a whisper. And yet, this frail, modest and understated person was truly a giant. Her quiet, polite voice amplified a whole movement and changed a Nation when, in December 1955 she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. That single act of courage began turning the wheels of the civil rights movement. The rest of her story is American history... her arrest and trial, a 381-day Montgomery bus boycott, and, finally, the Supreme Court's ruling in November 1956 that segregation on public transportation is unconstitutional. But the bravery she spontaneously displayed on the bus that day was only a small part of the tremendous courage she manifested throughout her life. Forty years later, despite enormous gains, Parks felt, "we still have a long way to go in improving race relations in this country." She had a firm and quiet strength to change things that were unjust.

As we remember the life of Rosa Parks, perhaps we can also find ways to acknowledge other long-distance runners right here at home in American Samoa who quietly devote their lives to making our community and indeed the world, a better place to live.

AUMUA AMATA