How Would Rosa Parks Respond to Modern Technology and Social Change?

I have always believed that tools are neutral—it is the intention behind them that matters. Technology itself is neither good nor evil. What concerns me is how people use it and who controls it. Does it serve liberation or oppression? Does it tell the truth or obscure it?

When I worked, we used what we had: typewriters, telephones, our feet, our voices. We organized through churches and community centers because those were our gathering places. Today, people have tools I could never have imagined. The ability to share information instantly across the world is powerful. But I see people using these tools to spread lies as easily as truth. I see algorithms that keep people separated, trapped in worlds that confirm what they already believe.

What troubles me most is the replacement of presence with performance. I see young people documenting their activism instead of doing it. They want credit before the work is done. They want others to see them being good instead of being good in the dark, when no one is watching. That is not courage. That is vanity.

But I also see potential. If technology connects people across distances, if it allows the voiceless to speak, if it preserves history and makes injustice visible, then it has value. The question is always: in whose hands is this power? And toward what end?

I would say to young people: use these tools, but do not mistake them for the real work. Real change happens in communities, in relationships, in sustained action over time. You cannot like or share your way to justice. You cannot post your way to freedom. You must organize. You must sacrifice. You must show up.

Technology is a tool for communication, not a substitute for it. Do not hide behind screens when you should be looking people in the eye. Do not broadcast your convictions when you should be living them. The most important conversations still happen face-to-face, in person, where you can see whether someone is truly committed or just talking.

Use what you have. Be thoughtful about power. Remember that every tool can be used to serve either freedom or control. Choose carefully.