Rosa Parks: Celebrating over 50 years of the Montgomery Bus Boycott with Shandra L. Terry

Shandra L. Terry delivered her original monologue to an energetic crowd in the Multicultural Center Thursday evening. She conveyed the passion and spirit of Rosa Parks, the woman who “was just tired of being pushed around.”

Terry’s initial interest in the history of Rosa Parks, and the civil rights movement, began in high school when she won a $10,000 scholarship for her oratorical on the subject. She has been performing as the iconic activist ever since.

“She was at the right place, at the right time and a nation was changed,” Terry said.

Parks is celebrated throughout the nation, but black history has been underrepresented in most textbooks.

“Black history is American history,” Terry said, “The history book was totally unfair, so much happened between Harriet Tubman and Jesse Jackson running for president, but most textbooks leave that out.”

Terry expressed the importance of all of American history, especially the civil rights movement. She felt personally compelled to investigate the history of the movement, particularly Rosa Parks.

“I really wanted to know who I was,” Terry said, “I am the descendent of slaves, and I’m so proud of that. I am dedicated to not forgetting where I come from.”

Terry brought the crowd back to 1955, onto a bus with a separate entrance for African American passengers, to a segregated society on the verge of revolution.

She asked her fellow time travelers: “What move are you going to make to change this nation?”