Rosa Goes Commercial

HEY!! Mom, I'm going to Disney!!!

Commercialization of the American Culture is a phenomenon that gives rise to increased profits in corporate America and increased consternation to those tasked with protecting our heritage.

Yet, more and more we see that no icon is ever safe from the almighty dollar..

Rosa Parks the Brand Name
IN the gift shop of the Henry Ford Museum, just steps away from the brightly painted city bus that Rosa Parks defiantly rode into history books 51 years ago, there are tributes of a very different sort to the woman who helped tear down the walls of racial segregation in America.

A T-shirt bearing an image of Bus 2857 from Montgomery, Ala., will set you back $24. For a mere $4.99, you can buy a refrigerator magnet with a picture of the bus. A poster of the famous, albeit staged, 1956 photo by United Press International of Mrs. Parks sitting in front of a white man on a different bus goes for $16. The word “Destiny” is written above the photo.
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Indeed, profiting from Mrs. Parks’s image has long drawn the ire of those who watch over her legacy. But faced with limited resources, her estate has found it impossible to stop everyone who sees dollar signs when they hear the name Rosa Parks.

Anita Peek, executive director of the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, the organization that Mrs. Parks charged with safeguarding her image, said that all of the jockeying around the civil rights hero has largely left her resigned to accept a time-worn truism.

“It’s America,” Ms. Peek says. “And if you can make a buck, someone’s going to try to do something.”
Rosa Parks

Anything for a dollar..

Semper

It's the American way. Parks is an icon, even in death. It is to her credit that she never made a spectacle of herself in life, but chose to live quietly.

In New Orleans, there is a street off St. Charles, near Tulane University, which is a very well-to-do section of town that is and always has been named Rosa Park. I always found something ironic in that.

[edit on 2006/10/8 by GradyPhilpott]

I guess it's just the American way.

Kind of sad though to think that for future generations she will be remembered as a "Bobblehead Doll."

Semper

Doesn't that make it our responsibility to make sure that she isn't remembered as a bobblehead doll, or a t-shirt slogan. It's up to us to make sure that the generations that follow ours know about her, and others like her. They were the heroes of the civil rights movement, the ones who changed things because they refused to let things remain the same...we should all be so brave.

I don't really think that it's up to us, in the most general sense. It would be up to her family and those who are personally involved in the movement she helped to start.

What has really happened to the civil rights movement is far more egregious than any bobble head doll. A caricature of an ideal is far worse than a caricature of an individual.

We should remember Rosa Parks for her courage, as much as we should remember Rev. King for his courage. Different in magnitude maybe, but no less courageous in its own way.

I would agree that it is up to her family to make sure she is remembered properly. That's true. We, too, have a certain level of responsibility to ensure that her legacy is remembered, and accorded the respect it is due.

I do agree with you on the civil rights movement, though. It's become a caricature of itself...the early founders would almost not recognize it these days. In this we agree.

Indeed, profiting from Mrs. Parks’s image has long drawn the ire of those who watch over her legacy. But faced with limited resources, her estate has found it impossible to stop everyone who sees dollar signs when they hear the name Rosa Parks.

I would really like to know what expenses are associated with her estate. But I'm not going to register on the link provided to find out. I would think defending her name from being exploited would be taken on pro bono by many civil rights groups.

On the other hand, if the estate hasn't take the necessary steps to secure copyrights, etc., they have nothing to complain about. Other than, maybe they're PO'ed that they're not getting their cut of the action...

[edit on 18-10-2006 by jsobecky]