Scripps College

"There is nothing more powerful than an idea in its ability to capture the imagination and soul of humankind. We often reflect on ideas of freedom, individualism, equality, morality - ideas and ideals so ancient that it is hard to trace their origins. An idea when it is in bloom, in its season of power, can become the birthplace for a thousand hopes, aspirations and dreams. In the absence of ideas, humankind stumbles and is diminished. It is the power of an idea which gives birth to activism. Activism for the common good can transform the world.

"Rosa Parks embodied this principle. She sat down so a nation could stand up. Her example, that one person - a seamstress - could provoke transformative change for an entire nation has captured the souls of the oppressed worldwide. In 1989, the world was transfixed when thousands of democracy advocates stood up to troops and tanks in Tiananmen Square and proclaimed, 'I am Rosa Parks.'

"The gift of activism - of courageous, visionary and selfless giving - is the force which keeps the world in balance."