Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks was an American civil rights activist who is known as the mother of the freedom movement. Her refusal to give up her bus seat started the Montgomery bus boycott.

Early Life and Education

Parks was born as Rosa Louise McCauley in 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her parents separated when she was young and she was raised on a farm by her grandparents.

She attended the industrial school for the black students and later the teachers college. She worked as a seamstress and a housekeeper.

She married Raymond Parks, a barber and a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People. She became active in the civil rights movement.

The Bus Boycott

Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery bus on 1 December 1955. She was arrested and fined.

She was not the first to resist but her case became the test of the segregation law. She was the secretary of the Montgomery branch of the association.

The Montgomery bus boycott began on 5 December 1955 and lasted for more than a year. The black community refused to ride the buses.

The Supreme Court ruled the bus segregation unconstitutional in 1956. The boycott ended and the desegregation of the buses followed.

The Later Activism

Parks and her husband suffered the harassment and the loss of the jobs after the boycott. They moved to Detroit in 1957.

She worked as a secretary and a receptionist for the representative John Conyers. She continued to be active in the civil rights movement.

She took part in the marches and the campaigns of the 1960s. She attended the March on Washington in 1963.

She received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999. She was the first woman to lie in state in the rotunda of the Capitol after her death.

The Legacy

Parks is remembered as the mother of the freedom movement. Her act of the defiance became a symbol of the struggle for the equality.

The bus that she boarded is displayed in the Henry Ford Museum. The street and the institutions are named in her honour.

She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. The Rosa Parks Act was passed in several states.

She died in 2005 in Detroit. She is regarded as one of the most important figures of the American history.

The Arrest and the Boycott

Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on 1 December 1955. She was arrested and fined.

The Montgomery bus boycott began on 5 December 1955. The black community refused to ride the buses for more than a year.

The Supreme Court ruled the bus segregation unconstitutional in 1956. The boycott ended and the desegregation of the buses followed.

The Later Life

Parks and her husband suffered the harassment and the loss of the jobs. They moved to Detroit in 1957.

She worked as a secretary and a receptionist for the representative John Conyers. She continued to be active in the civil rights movement.

She received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999. She died in 2005 in Detroit.

The Early Activism

Parks joined the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People. She became the secretary of the Montgomery branch.

She investigated the cases of the racial violence and the injustice. She was committed to the cause of the civil rights.

She attended the Highlander Folk School for the training in the activism. The experience prepared her for the struggle.

The Legacy and the Memory

Parks is remembered as the mother of the freedom movement. Her act of the defiance became a symbol of the struggle for the equality.

The bus that she boarded is displayed in the Henry Ford Museum. The street and the institutions are named in her honour.

She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was the first woman to lie in state in the Capitol.

The Background of the Boycott

Parks was the secretary of the Montgomery branch of the association. She was trained in the activism at the Highlander Folk School.

She was not the first to resist the segregation on the buses. The earlier cases had been brought by the other women.

Her case became the test of the law because of her character and her reputation. The leadership of the movement decided to support her.

The Personal Life

Parks married Raymond Parks in 1932. He was a barber and a member of the association.

She worked as a seamstress and a housekeeper. She suffered from the health problems in her later years.

She died in 2005 in Detroit at the age of ninety-two. She was the first woman to lie in state in the rotunda of the Capitol. The nation honoured her memory with the tributes in the many cities and the funeral was attended by the thousands.

See also

• Civil rights movement
• Montgomery bus boycott
• Segregation
• NAACP