04/12/2025
We believe in learning to understand our privileges, in our ongoing paths toward educating ourselves and each other, and in our ongoing commitment to equity.
This means understanding and ensuring that individuals receive what they need to thrive, acknowledging that experiences and access are not equal for everyone.
A reminder for clarification that there is an important distinction between equality and equity:
• Equality assumes everyone starts from the same position and needs the same resources, which overlooks systemic barriers and lived realities.
• Equity acknowledges that people have different needs and experiences, and ensures resources and opportunities are distributed in a way that creates fairness and inclusion.
Neutrality or “sitting on the fence” in matters of social justice often perpetuates privilege. Those who can choose neutrality typically do so because they are not directly impacted by marginalization. At Yoga Maya, we believe advocacy and representation are essential to dismantling inequities and supporting those whose voices are often silenced.
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70 years ago today, Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a White passenger in Montgomery, Alabama -- a single act of defiance that ignited the Montgomery Bus Boycott and became one of the defining moments of the Civil Rights Movement. In speaking about this historic moment, Parks said: “I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in."
While Parks' contributions to the Civil Rights Movement are often reduced to this single moment, this was neither her first nor her last act of resistance. She had been a member and secretary of the Montgomery NAACP chapter for 12 years and had attended the Highlander Folk School, a social justice leadership training center, the summer before refusing to give up her bus seat.
Parks and her husband moved to Michigan shortly after the bus boycott as a result of losing their jobs. There, Parks was hired as a receptionist for U.S. Representative John Conyers' Detroit office, where she worked until she retired in 1988. She received many awards and accolades in her life, most notably the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.
Parks, who was called “the mother of the freedom movement” by the United States Congress, died in October 2005 and was given memorial services to reflect her heroic legacy in Detroit, Montgomery, and Washington, D.C. She was the first woman to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda, the second African American to receive this honor, and the first American who was not a government official to do so.
To introduce kids to her inspiring story, we recommend the board book "My First Rosa Parks" for ages 2 to 4 (https://www.amightygirl.com/my-first-rosa-parks), the picture book "I Am Rosa Parks" for ages 4 to 8 (https://www.amightygirl.com/i-am-rosa-parks-1), her autobiography for ages 9 to 13, "Rosa Parks: My Story" (https://www.amightygirl.com/rosa-parks-my-story), "Who Was Rosa Parks?" for ages 8 to 12 (https://www.amightygirl.com/who-was-rosa-parks), and "The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks: Young Readers" for ages 12 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/rebellious-rosa-parks-young-readers)
For adult readers who would like to deepen their understanding of Parks' life and impact, we highly recommend the fascinating biography "The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks" at https://www.amightygirl.com/rebellious-life-rosa-parks
For more books about courageous girls and women of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, visit our blog post on "50 Inspiring Books on Girls & Women of the Civil Rights Movement" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11177
For books for children and teens about pioneering African-American women, visit our blog post "99 Books about Extraordinary Black Mighty Girls and Women" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=14276
