Rosa Parks was an African American female, born on Feb. 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. Throughout Parks’ life, she experienced racial discrimination and even violence.Â
She married a man named Raymond Parks at the age of 19. He also was actively trying to put an end to racial injustice. As a couple, they worked together with multiple social justice organizations.Â
On Dec. 1, 1955, Parks boarded a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. In 1955, African Americans were forced to sit in the back of the bus, and caucasians were allowed to sit in front. However, on this very day, she made the decision to sit in the front. As white people started to load onto the bus, the driver of the bus asked Parks to move to the back.Â
At a young age, she became very active in the Civil Rights Movement. She was elected as the secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).Â
By the time of this historical event, Parks was established as an organizer and leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama.
Parks held her ground and refused to move to the back which then was deemed one of the largest social movements in history that is now known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott.Â
Many people tried to make Parks out to be less than who she was. Many tried to say that she was a seamstress who didn’t want to move because she was too “tired”. However, Parks later denied that claim and would then release what her real motivation was.
“People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
Her statement about her fearless act led to the integration of public transport in Montgomery.Â
All though this all sounds amazing, she was unfortunately put in jail since she refused to give up her seat and therefore lost her job for participating in the boycott.Â
When she got out, she and her husband went to Virginia and then settled down in Detroit, Michigan. Her work proved to be unmatched and was then part of Detroit’s Civil Rights Movement.
Rosa Parks was an amazing woman who proved to all women to stand up for what is right. She left a legacy in particular for the resistance against any and all racial discrimination and injustice.
Norwood, A. (2017). Rosa Parks (1913-2005). National Women’s History Museum. Retrieved February 5, 2025, from https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/rosa-parks