H.H. leonards and Dr. LaDonna Boyd on 'Rosa Parks - Beyond the Bus'

Author H.H. Leonards and CEO of R.H. Boyd Publishing, Dr. LaDonna Boyd, join us to discuss their memoir, Rosa Parks Beyond the Bus: Life, Lessons, and Leadership. Leonards is the founder of The Mansion on O Street, a place where Rosa Parks sought refuge for the last decade of her life after she was brutally accosted in her Detroit home. At the Mansion, Parks was able to heal emotionally and physically, while out of the public eye. Because of that, Parks was able to regain her strength and live safely in those ten years. Although her stay there was a secret from the press, she wasn’t hidden from those closest to her. Her friends also lived there and she received visits from many others. This memoir is a personal reflection of the time Leonards spent with Parks, as her friend and her caretaker. “My story is not a history lesson. It’s more about talking about her soul and her spirit and the things that she did that people don’t know. She really was the seminal point of starting the Civil Rights Movement and there’s so many layers to that story. That’s what she’s known for, but Beyond the Bus is telling people that don’t know about her and don’t know the historical importance of what she’s done and bringing it to life.”

Leonards learned a great deal from Rosa Parks during those years. One of her takeaways is, “If history is not taught accurately, we can never have freedom and equality. It is so important that at every opportunity those who know about it speak out with love in their heart. Mrs. Parks would tell me things that I didn’t understand until the past few years. People who are hiding behind laws and not paying attention to changing people’s hearts… Now even more than ever, telling history the way it was but also telling history from a perspective of love is even more important. Mrs. Parks went around the world talking to people. It didn’t matter how many people she met with. She tells if people could hear her speak or meet her personally then maybe they wouldn’t live with fear in their heart, which is where hate comes from.”