With one simple act of courage, she jump started a movement that led to the end of American Apartheid. And from that moment on she spent the rest of her life working for progressive causes. Rosa Parks passed away last night at her Detroit home, and though she may be gone in the physical sense her spirit will always be with all those who imagine and work for peace, justice, and equality.

Mrs. Parks is best known for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus to a white man, as African Americans were expected to do at the time. This act led to a boycott of the Montgomery bus system organized by the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. From these beginnings came the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s that eventually brought down the racist system of segregation known as Jim Crow.

Rest in peace, Mrs. Parks...and rest assured that your life's work will be carried on.