Ms. Parks, we owe you a lot. Rest well. 1913-2005

In a week of Harriet Miers and Scooter Libby, it is a miracle that CNN and Fox pontificators don't have a hernia.

But the real story of the week is Rosa Parks, proof positive that great catalysts of social change can come in very small, sometimes insignificant packages. How things can change. Here is the story from the Associated Press:

DETROIT (AP) — In the city where she died and the city where she sparked the civil rights movement, the front of the bus is reserved for Rosa Parks.

Detroit and Montgomery, Ala., are reserving the first seats of their buses as a tribute to Parks' legacy until her funeral next week.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick placed a black ribbon Thursday morning on the first passenger seat of one of about 200 buses where seats will be reserved.

"We cannot do enough to pay tribute to someone who has so positively impacted the lives of millions across the world," Kilpatrick said in a statement.

In some buses in Montgomery, the first seat was being covered with black fabric and a photograph of Parks was being displayed, according to the Montgomery Area Transit System.

"This gesture, in conjunction with the city of Detroit, is appropriate in the two communities that Mrs. Parks called home," said Montgomery County Judge Lynn Bright.

Officials elsewhere were offering similar tributes.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority honored Parks by putting signs above seats in the front of 12 downtown buses that read: "This seat is reserved for no one. RTA honors the woman who took a stand by sitting down. Rosa Parks 1913-2005."

In case you have been living in an alternate universe for the past 50 years, Ms. Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery in 1955, truly one of the most remarkable acts of courage that I have ever heard of in my lifetime. Our current generation tends to pass our courage accolades to anyone or everyone for the smallest of efforts. How many times have you heard George Bush use the "hero" word over the past five years. It boggles the mind.

But if we have 10 jillion billion heroes in America, only one - Rosa Parks -stands above them all.

That seemingly small gesture on a bus changed our nation and the mindset of a people. It launched a period of considerable pain and angst, but in a way, it was our finest moment as a nation. It completed a movement launched by Abraham Lincoln in 1862 to make us a nation of one people. We often forget how important that small bit of courage was for us all - and, admittedly, racism still abides even in the best of us - but without the Rosa Parks of the world, our species would have no more right of claim to greatness than any other primate.

Ms. Parks died Monday (10-24-05) in Detroit at age 92. The catalyst for the modern civil rights movement moved to Detroit in 1957 after encountering threats, harassment and trouble finding work in Montgomery.

Sometimes heroes do not get medals, money and acclaim. Sometimes they just go on with their lives. We are the ones who reap the reward.

Thank you, Ms. Parks. We owe you a lot. Rest well.