What are the chances that you know someone from the slums if you live in a high-brow part of town? Do you have connections across the socio-economic, political, religious, cultural, nationality, ethnic or gender divide?
Most of us have friends who are like us right? It is convenient to do so and perhaps this is the norm. Your strong ties are probably people like you, but you need to form weak ties too and make a conscious effort to do so. 
The power of weak ties may very well be what will make the difference between you and the ordinary Joe when the chips are down.
At about 6 pm in Montgomery, on the 5th of December 1955 around the Cleveland Avenue, a certain bus driver named James Blake had a Black American woman arrested for refusing to stand up for a white man on his bus. The arrest of Rosa Parks subsequently led to the Montgomery bus boycott, a pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement.
The question is why was the arrest of Rosa Parks any different from the many other arrests of black Americans in the same place and around the same time? What was it about Rosa Parks that made her the perfect firecracker to light up the civil rights movement?
What was it about Rosa Parks that made her the perfect firecracker to light up the civil rights movement?
Many factors perhaps but without a doubt, Rosa Parks had the power of weak ties. She was well known in the city and many agree she was the one person who was able to form weak ties across race, gender, age and other divides in Montgomery.
Rosa Parks belonged to different church groups, many charity organizations and 
participated in fund raising events mingling between all races, gender, and religion.
The power of weak ties soon became apparent shortly after her arrest. People (white and black) many who have had a reason to know her faintly or indirectly took the fight personally.
Strong ties are great but spreading the wings of weak ties maybe all you need to get a job for example. After all, most would rather employ a friend of a friend than a complete stranger.
