Publisher: Henry Holt and Co., New York (2005)

Title: Rosa

Author: Nikki Giovanni

Illustrator: Bryan Collier

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co., New York (2005)

Summary:

December 1 of 1955 began like any other day of the approaching holiday season. Rosa Parks fixed breakfast for her husband, her aging mother and herself. She then headed for work at the alterations department where her “needle and thread flew through her hands like the gold spinning from Rumpelstiltskin’s loom.” Because Rosa could complete her work so beautifully and quickly, the other seamstresses would tease her that she had magical powers but Rosa would respond that she merely concentrated on her job. Because it was early in the month and her supervisor knew that Rosa often stayed late and worked through lunch, he encouraged her to leave on time that day in order to get home to check on her mother who had been ill. So the retelling of the now famous tale of Rosa Parks begins. We see Rosa board the bus to pay her fare, get back off and reboard at the back of the bus. Because the “black section” of the bus is full, Rosa chooses a seat in the “neutral section” (middle section of the bus). Because she is deep in thought about what to prepare for supper, she doesn’t hear the demands of the bus driver until he’s yelling down upon her, demanding that she get up out of her seat and surrender it to a white man. Collier’s powerful illustrations reveal the tension of the moment. We see the half-turned heads of white passengers, dispassionate, cold. We see Rosa’s hands clutching her purse tightly, clinging to her self respect! Giovanni’s words are simple yet powerful, “She had not sought this moment, but she was ready for it.” When the policeman is summoned and questions her, she is able to refuse because “all the strength of all the people through all those many years joined in her.” Giovanni then describes how the news moves from person to person, in the Piggly Wiggly, and how the strength of black women within the community is a force for the cause. The Women’s Political Council, along with the NAACP and local churches take up the cause, a bus boycott!!!! “And the people walked. They walked in the rain. They walked in the hot sun…………They walked at Christmas and they walked at Easter. They walked on the Fourth of July……… ……………….and then it was almost Christmas again. They still walked.” Giovanni ends her account of Rosa Parks and her stand for justice by saying, “The integrity, the dignity, the quiet strength of Rosa Parks turned her no into a YES for change.”

Personal Response:

Giovanni, with her poet’s ear, and Collier, with his strong brush strokes gives us a powerful recounting of the Rosa Parks story. I can empathize with Rosa’s fatigue at the end of a long work day and her relief at being able to sit back in her seat on the bus, eager to get home to her family. I can’t imagine the degradation of having to pay my fare and then get OFF the bus in order to board at the back; I can’t imagine the humiliation of having a large male bus driver scream at me simply because he thinks he’s superior. I CAN imagine that I would resent the above and might eventually abandon the safety of silence to defend myself if only by refusing to be treated so hatefully and inhumanely.

I cheer that the very first to support Rosa are the woman in her community; I would hope that my female friends and colleagues would support me so unselfishly if I were to need assistance.

I was reminded of Malcolm X and his determination to stand for justice for the black community as I read this book. I was even reminded of the stereotyping that the character in Monster had to face as I read the account in which a simple woman returning home from work is subjected to unfair treatment due to ignorance and the stereotyping of individuals.

Evaluation:

Although this account of Rosa Parks and her refusal to forfeit her seat, and her honor, is told in simple chronological order, it remains a powerful tale. The vivid illustrations done in broad strokes and warm colors add to the appeal and tension of the story. In the front of the book, the illustrator has stated that he visited Montgomery and Selma, Alabama and was struck by the heat. He therefore attempted to use yellow, often dark hues, to convey a sense of the heat and a sense of foreshadowing of the unease before a storm. Giovanni’s use of lyrical prose helps paint a picture of a proud but unassuming woman who is caught in a time and place not of her using yet she digs into her strong heritage to find the strength to stand for her beliefs, for respect, for justice. Giovanni and Collier add details such as the bus boycott and presence of Martin Luther King, Jr. to help the young reader gain a sense of the historical setting of the book. Giovanni’s poetic gift of language and Collier’s gift of the magnificent brush make this book inviting and add to the beauty and dignity of the story.