Dozens of people, including students, administrators and faculty, marched through the San Diego Mesa College campus Thursday in honor of Rosa Parks to kick off Black History Month.
“As someone who loved education, as someone who loved working with young people, she was an inspiration not only to us but she was inspired also by us,” said Thekima Mayasa, a professor of Black studies at San Diego Mesa College, as she addressed the students before they began to walk.
The group met outside of the humanities and multicultural studies building. Some of them held handmade signs with phrases like, “Black, Bold, Beautiful” and others carried framed drawings of Rosa Parks.
“The activism that she was a part of didn’t just happen on one day, it was part of her whole life,” said Mayasa.
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They made their way past other buildings on campus like the Center for Business and Technology and Mesa Commons, before ending up at the Rosa Parks Transit Center. The MTS stop was dedicated to Parks in 2010.
The school and the civil rights icon have a long history, spanning three decades. More than 40 years after she refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, to a white passenger in 1955, a San Diego Mesa College professor was determined to bring her to San Diego for a visit.
In February 1992, Rosa Parks came to San Diego Mesa College and spent two days speaking with students and the community. That was one of three times that Parks came to the school before she passed away in 2005.
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“For me, it was really important to be able to be amongst greatness,” said Ashanti Hands, the current president of San Diego Mesa College.
Her first time visiting the campus, which she now oversees, was when she came to listen to Rosa Parks speak in person in the 1990s. Hands recalled not having a car at the time but being determined to get there.
“She inspired, in so many ways, to be able to see the way that her legacy lives in my life is amazing,” said Hands. “And, now to be president of a campus who was bold and courageous and smart enough to acknowledge her, to institutionalize her legacy and the way that she operated is amazing.”
This event was one of several planned at San Diego Mesa College throughout the month of February. Visit this page for more details.
