Ride Rosa Ride
December 1955
One bus ride
Changed the world as we knew it
Altered our destiny
Redefined history
That day the familiar
Became unfamiliar
What used to make sense
Made no sense.
One woman boarded the bus
And took a seat
To rest her tired feet.
When asked to stand
She decided to let it all ride
Threatened with jail,
You prevailed.
So, ride Rosa ride
Ride for every stripe to our forefather’s back,
Ride for justice,
Freedom and equality
Ride for you and me.
Ride for every slave that died.
Rest your tired feet and ride.
You were ordered to stand
But that was not in your plan
You held your head high
And let it ride
Tired of accepting what had always been
You threw caution to the wind
Ride Rosa ride.
Take a seat
Rest your tired feet
Hold your head high
And ride
Ride for her stripes to our forefather’s back
Ride for every racial attack
Ride for the injustices we had to face
Take your rightful place.
Hold your head high and ride.
You did not realize what you did
But you changed the world as we knew it
That’s what you did.
That’s what you did.
Quietly, peacefully
You unveiled the ugliness of inequality
When you decided
to ride.
So ride Rosa ride.
Hold your head high
And ride
Ride, ride, ride
Ride Rosa ride.
Copyright Patricia Newman-Harris
poetry collection: Living the Dream
Create Space