The Time Had Just Come When I

There Is Work To Do; That Is Why I Cannot Stop Or Sit Still. As Long As A Child Needs Help, As Long As People Are Not Free, There Will Be Work To Do. As Long As An Elderly Person Is Attacked Or In Need Of Support, There Is Work To Do. As Long As We Have Bigotry And Crime, We Have Work To Do.

I Did Not Want To Be Mistreated, I Did Not Want To Be Deprived Of A Seat That I Had Paid For. It Was Just Time… There Was Opportunity For Me To Take A Stand To Express The Way I Felt About Being Treated In That Manner. I Had Not Planned To Get Arrested. I Had Plenty To Do Without Having To End Up In Jail. But When I Had To Face That Decision, I Didn't Hesitate To Do So Because I Felt That We Had Endured That Too Long. The More We Gave In, The More We Complied With That Kind Of Treatment, The More Oppressive It Became.

I Thought Of Emmett Till, And When The Bus Driver Ordered Me To Move To The Back, I Just Couldn’t Move.

I Had Given Up My Seat Before, But This Day, I Was Especially Tired. Tired From My Work As A Seamstress, And Tired From The Ache In My Heart.

I Believe There Is Only One Race - The Human Race.