Although the poem is named for civil rights hero Rosa Parks, Parks herself is not mentioned until Line 38 of this 57-line poem. This choice signifies that Parks is not the focus of the poem—instead the poem is about the movement that Parks was inspired and fueled by, and the ways she inspired and fueled that movement.

The implicit metaphor behind Giovanni’s single-stanza poem is that the civil rights movement was like a train: It had many interlocking and interdependent parts; required many people to start, propel, and steer it; transported many people along with it; and had the ability to travel long distances.

Bringing the metaphor to life is the poem’s repeating refrain: “This is for the Pullman Porters who.” This phrase (or something very close to it) appears eight times in the first two-thirds of the poem (Lines 1, 4, 9-10, 12, 16, 23-24, 26, and 33). Partway through the poem, the refrain shifts away from the porters, highlighting others involved in the civil rights movement: “And this is for all the mothers who cried” (Line 37), “And this is / for all the people who said Never Again” (Lines 37-38), “And this is about Rosa Parks whose” (Lines 38-39), “This is about Mrs.