Dear Mrs. Parks
A Message from the Editor, Victoria L. Valentine...

     The Crisis was founded 95 years ago in November 1910. In this issue, we are honored to mark this hard-won anniversary by joining in the national tribute to your life and legacy.

     That was some celebration. Your memory was honored on a grand scale in three cities. It was probably more than you would have wanted, certainly more than you would have imagined, but warranted nonetheless.

     Tens of thousands paid their respects as you lay in honor at St. Paul AME Church in Montgomery, Ala., your house of worship in the city where you made history by refusing to give up your seat on a public bus to a White man; in Washington, D.C., in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda (where you were the first woman and second African American to do so); and at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, your adopted hometown for the past 48 years.

     A former president; elected officials; civil rights leaders including NAACP President and CEO Bruce S. Gordon and Chairman Julian Bond; clergy; youth from the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development; family; friends and many, many others paid tribute to you at services in all three cities.

     At the last service in Detroit, a marathon of speakers stood before your remains to give remarks about your impact on the nation and its people. Choirs performed and Aretha Franklin sang. It began at 11 a.m., and seven hours elapsed before it concluded at 6 p.m.

    You may not have expected the outpouring of love and respect, but Elaine Eason Steele, your longtime caregiver, said you would have been thrilled with the ceremony. She said, "Rosa Parks has enjoyed it. She loved good preaching. She loved good political talk."

    Plenty of laudatory remarks were made and memories shared at the services.

    Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Oprah Winfrey, two of the most powerful women in the world, both said they would not be where they are today if it weren't for you and your brave defiance of Jim Crow. Gwen Ifill of PBS's NewsHour called you her hero.

    Al Sharpton said we should take your cue and help to advance the freedom movement: "You ought to make one commitment in her name to yourself. You ought to resolve that you are going to do something that makes a difference, because we're here because she made a difference."

    One of the most profound statements made was by Minister Louis Farrakhan in Detroit. He referenced President Clinton's earlier remark that you had "made us all better people in a better country." You made the country better, Farrakhan said, but you didn't make it good.

    Go ahead, take a moment. At first, the comment sounds critical of your impact, but it's not. It praises your efforts and criticizes the country's response to the. The upshot: America is full of promise, but not yet "good."

    You did your part. Now it is time for us to do ours.

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