Two women鈥檚 indelible impact on the US
Alabama unveils statues honoring Rosa Parks and Helen Keller. With dignity, determination, and faith, both women uplifted American society and reinforced its values.
These statues, honoring native Alabamians Rosa Parks (left) and Helen Keller on the Capitol grounds in Montgomery, were officially dedicated Oct. 24.
AP
On Friday, Alabama officials unveiled statues of two indomitable native daughters 鈥� civil rights activist Rosa Parks and disability pioneer Helen Keller.
The move, unanimously approved by the state legislature in 2019, makes Ms. Parks and Ms. Keller the first women to be depicted among the many monuments on the Capitol grounds in Montgomery.
And it underscores how, in overcoming limitations, both women overturned restrictive societal views and values about individual ability and worth. While they faced vastly different challenges, their lives are entwined by a common thread of quiet determination and dignity.
Ms. Keller (1880鈥�1968) was born as Jim Crow racial segregation was taking root in the southern United States. Her white family had sufficient means to find help when she lost both sight and hearing after a childhood illness. Ms. Parks (1913鈥�2005) grew up in poverty on a farm where her grandfather often kept watch all night, rifle at hand, to fend off the Ku Klux Klan.
Eventually, Ms. Keller learned to communicate through a combination of Braille and lipreading. She graduated from Radcliffe College and became an inspiring advocate for individuals with disabilities. She also co-founded the American Civil Liberties Union and supported the NAACP.
Ms. Keller exuded vitality and optimism, according to a New York Times report. 鈥淢y life has been happy鈥� with friends and 鈥渋nteresting work,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 seldom think about my limitations, and they never make me sad.鈥�
Ms. Parks, who earned a high school diploma and worked as a seamstress, was an active member of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP well before her iconic act of protest. In December 1955, she defied local laws and refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. And it wasn鈥檛 because she was worn out and wanted to rest her feet.
鈥淣o, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in,鈥� Ms. Parks wrote in her autobiography. Her arrest sparked the yearlong Montgomery bus boycott by Black residents. In November 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregation on public transport unconstitutional. But, unable to find employment, Ms. Parks and her husband moved to Detroit.
Through their trials, both women drew on a higher faith. 鈥淚 believe that all through these dark and silent years, God has been using my life,鈥� Ms. Keller said.
As for Ms. Parks, 鈥淕od did away with all my fear,鈥� she wrote in 1995. 鈥淚 am thankful to him every day that he gave me the strength not to move.鈥�