55 years ago today, Rosa Parks was arrested for trying to change the story for African Americans. On December 1, 1955, Parks famously refused to give up her front-of-the-bus seat to a white rider.

Parks was arrested, and a year-long bus boycott ensued in the city of Montgomery, Alabama.

When asked why Parks chose not to move her seat, she said she was “tired of giving in.”

Parks was fired from her job, and fined $10 (about $70 in today’s dollars).

Over the next decade, the civil rights movement would see the repeal of segregation, the rise of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the bravery of thousands of activists who marched on Washington and stood firm in the face of oppression and injustices, and the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

But it started with a woman who was tired of the indignity and the injustice of releasing her bus seat to a white man.

Rosa Parks Changed The Story.

We hold the power to change stories also. Today our world is filled with as much injustice as Parks’. Although the battlefield has shifted, the same enemies of oppression, injustice, poverty, and violence are waging war throughout the world.

Rosa Parks had no idea that her simple act of defiance would rally so many others.

Today, standing up to injustice in 2010 means committing intentional acts which provoke others to respond and join you.

You might go on a mission trip, and touch the lives of not only the people you are serving, but the hundreds (thousands) of others who you can infect with your passion.

You could start using your social network or your blog to educate people about the issues facing our world. Do you know how many people are unaware of the injustice in our world? Most of us know it is bad, but we are blissfully ignorant of what it’s really like, and just how big the problem is.

You can commit to changing the story for an orphan by sharing your Christmas with them. Instead of asking for gifts for yourself, ask your friends and family to put their resources toward helping orphans have regular food, clean water, protection from abuse, and opportunities to stay in school. Click here to find out more about Change Their Story.

What else can you think of? What can everyday people like us do to stand up to injustice in simple ways–like Rosa Parks?