Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks, Mother of the Civil Rights Movement

"To this day I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom." --Mrs. Rosa Parks--

Mrs. Rosa Parks, born on February 4, 1913, has been called the "mother of the civil rights movement" and one of the most important citizens of the 20th century.

On December 1, 1955, Mrs. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat near the front of a Montgomery, Alabama city bus to a white passenger. The bus driver had her arrested for violating the law.

"Differences of race, nationality or religion should not be used to deny any human being citizenship rights or privileges."

By "sitting down" for what she believed in, and refusing to give up her bus seat, Mrs. Parks made history. The following night, fifty leaders of the Negro community (among them was the young minister, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) met to discuss the issue. The leaders organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott that would continue until the bus segregation laws were changed. The citywide boycott of the bus system by blacks, in which they refused to use the bus for transportation, lasted for 382 days. It caused the bus company to lose a huge amount of money -- and changed America forever.

In December of 1956, the Supreme Court decided that bus segregation violated the constitution. The Civil Rights Movement was put into motion, which led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Today all Americans, whatever their race, nationality, or religion, must be given equal treatment under the law.

"I felt just resigned to give what I could to protect against the way I was being treated."

Mrs. Parks's mother was a school teacher and taught her at home until the age of eleven. She then attended Montgomery Industrial School for Girls, and later Booker T. Washington High School. Both of these schools were for African-American students only. Mrs. Rosa Parks became used to obeying the "blacks only" or "whites only" rules of the segregation laws, but found them humiliating.

When she was twenty, Rosa married Raymond Parks, a barber. She attended Alabama State College, worked as a seamstress and housekeeper, and was active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Montgomery Voters League. The Voters League was a group that helped black citizens pass the many tests that had been set up to make it hard for them to register as voters. In 1943 she was elected Secretary of the NAACP Montgomery Chapter.

In 1955, the year of her famous bus incident, Mrs. Parks was forty-two years old, and was very well respected in the black community. But long before that day, she fought segregation in her own way. She walked up the stairs of a building rather than riding in an elevator marked "blacks only." She went home thirsty instead of drinking from the "colored only" water fountain. And, Mrs. Parks preferred to walk home from work whenever possible to avoid sitting in the "blacks only" section in the back of the city bus.

"I didn't have any special fear. It was more of a relief to know that I wasn't alone."

During the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Mrs. Parks and her family received threats and were continually harassed. She was fired from her job as a seamstress, but didn't budge in her efforts to fight for racial equality. In 1957 she and her husband moved to Detroit, Michigan, where she again took in sewing and also worked as a fundraiser for the NAACP. In 1965 she was hired by Congressman John Conyers, Jr., also a civil rights leader, to manage his Detroit office. She and her husband remained active in the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

After the death of her husband in 1987, she founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development, which offers guidance to young blacks and sponsors an annual summer program, called Pathways to Freedom. The program enables young people from many different ethnic backgrounds to tour the country in buses, under adult supervision, and learn the history of their country and of the civil rights movement. The purpose of the Institute is to motivate and direct kids to achieve their highest potential, and to teach more people about important issues that affect the future of the world.

" It pains me that there is still a lot of Klan activity and racism. I think when you say you're happy, you have everything that you need and everything that you want, and nothing more to wish for. I haven't reached that stage yet."

Mrs. Rosa Parks' courage, determination, and her continued efforts to make Americans aware of the history of the civil rights struggle serve as important reminders. Today, the shocking "blacks only" and "whites only" laws of the past remind us that the fight for civil rights, racial equality, and freedom are not quite over. Although we have come a long way, Mrs. Parks' inner strength, leadership, and Girl Power! against all odds remind us -- and inspire us -- that there is still much progress to be made.

Honors and Awards

Here are some of Mrs. Parks' many honors and awards:

Lifetime Achievement Award (1997)

NAACP's Spingarn Medal (1970)

Martin Luther King Jr. Award (1980)

Honorary degree from Shaw College

Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize

Southern Christian Leadership Conference Annual Rosa Parks Freedom Award

Mrs. Parks has written four books, Rosa Parks: My Story: by Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins, Quiet Strength by Rosa Parks with Gregory J. Reed, Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue With Today's Youth by Rosa Parks with Gregory J, Reed, this book received the NAACP's Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, (Children's) in 1996 and her latest book, I AM ROSA PARKS by Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins, for preschoolers.

A quiet exemplification of courage, dignity, and determination; Rosa Parks was a symbol to all to remain free. Rosa Parks made her peaceful transition October 24, 2005.