Hi 72 / Lo 56
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Hi 72 / Lo 56 |
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Volume 72, Issue 96,
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
News Actress celebrates Rosa Parks' impact Thursday's event a part of sorority's Moments in Black History series by SHEREE STUBBLEFIELD
Members of the Delta Sigma Theta sororority celebrated the life and influence of Rosa Parks with a dramatic monologue on the civil rights icon's life performed by local actress Melissa Waddy-Thibodeaux. "Never forget Rosa Parks sat for freedom -- sat so you can sit today. Don't just think about (black leaders) in February," she said. "Think about them all the time." Delta Sigma Theta invited Waddy-Thibodeaux to perform Thursday in the Oberholtzer Ballroom for the second part of its Moments in Black History series. "It was an awesome performance," University Studies junior Alina Jones said. "It helped me understand the great influence (Parks') actions had and not to underestimate them." Psychology junior Stephanie Barton said highlighting Rosa Parks and choosing Waddy-Thobodeaux to portray her was the right choice. "(Waddy-Thibodeaux's) performance is very informative and in-depth," Barton said. "Her research on the people is what brings them to life." Waddy-Thibodeaux showed Parks as a vanguard of the civil rights movements, telling the story of her 1955 bus protest in Montgomery, Ala., as well as that of her life before and after the pivotal event. A historic spiritual played in the background to enhance the atmosphere. Parks, who died in October 2005, was buried in Detroit after being the first woman to lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. Parks was honored with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award the U.S. Congress can bestow on a citizen, in 1999. Waddy-Thibodeaux has portrayed several historical black women during her career. Last year she portrayed Harriet Tubman for Delta Sigma Theta, and she has also depicted women such as abolitionist Sojourner Truth and pilot Bessie Coleman in performances across the United States. The name of her production company, Flying Geese, is a reference to the quilted V-pattern that escaped slaves used to indicate safe houses. The company also features touring actors who perform as figures such as Frederick Douglass and musician Nina Simone. "You must be vanguards of the next generation," Waddy-Thibodeaux
said. "Black history is not just for one month. It's for every day."
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