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Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks acknowledging a standing ovation during a June 15, 1999, ceremony where she was awarded the United States Congressional Gold Medal

Rosa Parks on a Montgomery, Alabama Bus: 1955

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Rosa Louise Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an African American seamstress and figure in the American Civil Rights Movement, most famous for her refusal in 1955 to give up a bus seat when demanded to do so by a white man. Civil rights and political activity

Rosa Parks was born as Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, daughter of James and Leona McCauley. She grew up on a farm with her Methodist grandparents, mother, and brother. She worked as a seamstress making white sheets.In 1932, she married Raymond Parks, who was active in civil rights causes. In the 1940s, they were members of the Voters' League.

Rosa Parks became a very important person in history On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Parks refused to obey a public bus driver's orders to move to the back of the bus to make extra room for whites. She was arrested, tried, and convicted of disorderly conduct as well as of violating a local ordinance

In the December 1943, Parks became active in the American Civil Rights Movement and worked as a secretary for the Montgomery, Alabama branch of the NAACP. Of her position she said, "I was the only woman there, and they needed a secretary, and I was too timid to say no." She continued as secretary until 1957 when she left Montgomery. Just six months before her arrest, she had attended the Highlander Folk School, an education center for workers' rights and racial equality.

	Rosa Park’s Arrest December 1^st, 1955 after refusing to give up her seat in the “colored” section of the bus to a white man

The following night, 50 leaders of the African American community, headed by the then relatively unknown minister Martin Luther King, Jr (pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama) gathered to discuss the proper actions to be taken as a result of Mrs. Parks’ arrest. What ensued next was the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The entire black community boycotted public buses for 381 days. Dozens of public buses stood idle for months until the law legalizing segregation in public buses was lifted. This event helped spark many other protests against segregation. Through her role in initiating this boycott, Rosa Parks helped make other Americans aware of the civil rights struggle. Dr. King wrote in his 1958 book, Stride Toward Freedom, "Mrs. Parks’ arrest was the precipitating factor rather than the cause of the protest. The cause lay deep in the record of similar injustices...Actually no one can understand the action of Mrs. Parks unless he realizes that eventually the cup of endurance runs over, and the human personality cries out, 'I can take it no longer.'"

	The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted 381 Days: African Americans walked, car-pooled and took collective taxis to work and school: galvanizing the civil disobedience movement, attracting national attention, and ending in a victory: Racial Segregation on buses ended

In 1956 Parks’ case ultimately resulted in United States Supreme Court's ruling that segregated bus service was unconstitutional. Afterwards, Parks became an icon of the civil rights movement. Unable to find work and at the urging of family who feared for her safety, in 1957, she moved first to Hampton, Virginia and then to Detroit, Michigan. She worked as a seamstress there until joining the staff of U. S. Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan) where she worked from 1965 until 1988.

The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development was co-founded in February 1987 by Mrs. Rosa Parks and Ms. Elaine Eason Steele in honor of Rosa's husband Raymond Parks. The institute runs "Pathways to Freedom" bus tours introducing young people to important civil rights and underground railroad sites throughout the country. On a 1997 trip, the bus drove into a river killing Adisa Foluke, called Park's adopted grandson, who was a chaperone, and injuring several others.

She served as a board member for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She continued to reside in Detroit until her death on October 24, 2005. She had been diagnosed with Progressive Dementia in 2004.

	Rosa Parks at a Highlander Folk School Racial Equality Workshop: Just 6 months before her December 1^st,1955 arrest for refusing to give up her seat in the “colored” section of the Montgomery, Alabama bus to a white man

Debated aspects of Parks’ story and its place in the Civil Rights movement

While few historians doubt Parks’ contribution to the Civil Rights movement or the bravery of her refusal, some have questioned some of the more mythic elements of her story. Among the issues: Standard accounts of Parks’ act of civil disobedience in 1955 refer to her simply as a "tired seamstress". Parks stated in her autobiography, My Story, that it was not true that she was physically tired but was "tired of giving in". Also, some accounts downplay her prior involvement with the NAACP and the Highlander Folk School, portraying her as an individual with no particular political background or training.

Many accounts fail to clarify: she was sitting in the "colored" section of the bus. With the "white" section full, a white man wanted her to give up her seat. That is, it was not a matter of protest on any level when she sat down; the protest was in her refusal to give up a seat in the "colored" section. Mrs. Parks was on the Cleveland Avenue bus on December 1, 1955. Bus driver James Blake had demanded that four blacks give up their seats in the middle section so a lone white man could sit. Three of them complied. When recalling the incident for Eyes on the Prize, a 1987 public television series on the civil rights movement, Parks said, " When he saw me still sitting, he asked if I was going to stand up and I said, 'No, I'm not'. And he said, 'Well, if you don't stand up, I'm going to have to call the police and have you arrested.' I said, 'You may do that.' "

Parks was not the first African American to refuse to give up her seat to a white person. The NAACP accepted and litigated other cases before, such as that of Irene Morgan, ten years earlier, which resulted in a victory in the Supreme Court on Commerce Clause grounds. That victory only overturned state segregation laws as applied to actual travel in interstate commerce, such as interstate bus travel. Black leaders had begun to build a case around a 15-year-old girl's arrest for refusing to relinquish her bus seat, and Mrs. Parks had been among those who were raising money for the girl's defense. However, when they learned that the girl was pregnant, they decided that she was an unsuitable symbol for their cause. Dr. King said, "Mrs. Parks, on the other hand, was regarded as one of the finest citizens of Montgomery - not one of the finest Negro citizens - but one of the finest citizens of Montgomery."
The Rosa Parks case is considered the landmark because it applied to all segregationist laws, not just those affecting interstate commerce.

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