> I don't know if Fenton would pursue it, but professional
> publicists would have to feel a temptation to frame her
> as a grieving Mom at the expense of seeing her as a
> political figure
It helped the public perception of the movement at the time to have Rosa Parks portrayed as just a woman who got tired one day and decided not to give up her seat.
It helps all of us, as activists, to know the historical truth that she had been a political activist for years, and that her action was part of a planned campaign that involved the Montgomery NAACP, E.D. Nixon, etc. -- and to understand that change never happens because of the unprompted "spontaneous" activity of ordinary people, but has to be nurtured, stoked, and organized. (Which is why that scene in "Barbershop" is so irritating. It's not that the scene is "insulting" to Rosa Parks or that Rosa Parks is above satire. It's that it's fundamentally untrue and promotes a misleading understanding of how change actually happens, and thereby throws up an ideological roadblock to our ability to struggle in the hear-and-now.)
There's a balance to be struck, but ultimately I don't think that it's such a big deal to strike that balance.
- - - - - - - - - - John Lacny http://www.johnlacny.com
Tell no lies, claim no easy victories