Brave Woman

Oh Brave Woman. You have said “no more”. You have walked out or changed the locks or closed your ears to lies spat at you night after night.

You are brave like Rosa Parks who on December 1,1955, in Montgomery, Alabama decided she must live as the full human being she was. She did a simple thing: she sat down toward the front of a segregated bus and refused to give up her seat to a white man.

Rosa Parks prepared herself for that moment as you have been preparing yourself for your moment. For a long time she doubted that change could ever happen. But then the day came for action. She had no guarantees that any real change would happen. She was fearful but she was also tired. Not physically tired, she is quick to point out, but “tired of giving in”. She was tired in her heart and in her soul, much like you are today.

Rosa Parks moved all of us in the right direction – away from segregation and hate and towards equality for all people. Your brave actions move all of us too. Because your stepping out, your walking away, your saying “no more”, is an action that proclaims a profound truth. Each woman is a precious, unique gift from the Creator. Abuse robs not only you and your children, it robs all of us because it diminishes you and tries to make you small and insignificant when in fact you are significant beyond imagination. There never was before and there will never be again the particular spark of life that is you. We, all of us, the whole human race need you whole. We need you to be you. So, thank you for your bravery, your resistance to evil and your persistent pursuit of the good. It matters. It’s made a difference. Thank you.