On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery bus and changed the course of history. “In the end, God used a simple bus ride to accomplish more than we could have ever dreamed,” she later stated. Today marks the 107th birthday of “The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.” National Day of Courage . In honor of what would have been Rosa Park’s 100 th birthday, the Henry Ford Museum initiated a National Day of Courage on February 4, 2013. Many gave tribute to the bravery of the former Alabama seamstress, who on December 1, 1955, chose to disobey the unjust segregation law by refusing to give her bus seat to a white man. Rosa Parks (born February 4, 1913, Tuskegee, Alabama, U.S.—died October 24, 2005, Detroit, Michigan) was an American civil rights activist whose refusal to relinquish her seat on a public bus precipitated the 1955–56 Montgomery bus boycott in Alabama, which became the spark that ignited the civil rights movement in the United States. The story of Rosa Parks is a reminder of what a central role Christian faith has played in the civil-rights movement. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a Christian minister who turned the other Rosa Parks: My Story. by Rosa Parks and Jim Haskins. Dial Books, 1992. Quiet Strength: The Faith, the Hope, the Heart of a Woman Who Changed a Nation. by Rosa Parks and Gregory J. Reed. Zondervan, 1994. Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue with Today’s Youth. by Rosa Parks and Gregory J. Reed. Lee and Low Books, 1996. Rosa Parks does not know if she was chosen by God to become the mother of the civil rights movement. What she can say nearly four decades after she changed the course of U.S. history is that her Rosa Parks’ staunch faith and civil disobedience continue to inspire new generations of activists who propel the fight for freedom forward in the 21st century. Their continued activism is the ultimate expression of her legacy, since as she stated in her 1987 Eyes on the Prize oral interview “I would like to be remembered as a person who Rosa Parks, born Rosa Louise McCauley, was born in Tuskegee, Alabama and grew up just outside of Montgomery, Alabama. She died of natural causes in 2005 in Detroit, Michigan. Parks was a lifelong Methodist. She said of her childhood experiences in church: The church, with its musical rhythms and echoes of Africa, thrilled me when I was young. Often overlooked in the telling of Rosa Parks story is the depth of her Christian faith and the degree to which this informed her decision that day on the bus in Selma and, indeed, her entire life. Rosa Parks was a devout member and deaconess of the A,M.E. Church. As her biographer Jeanne Theoharis has observed, “There is no way to understand how she makes that stand, without understanding ROSA PARKS: (on radio) From the time of the arrest the word had gotten around over Montgomery. The ministers were very much interested in it, and we had our meetings in the churches. Rosa Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913, to Leona (née Edwards), a teacher, and James McCauley, a carpenter.In addition to African ancestry, one of Parks's great-grandfathers was Scots-Irish, and one of her great-grandmothers was a part–Native American slave. The Montgomery Bus Boycott is seen as a turning point in the fight for racial equality and justice, and Rosa Parks' bravery and determination played a crucial role in its success. Early Life and Activism Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. What impact did Rosa Parks have on the world? Rosa Parks has been called “the mother of the Civil Rights Movement.” While the fight against racial segregation had been building for years, her decision sparked a massive wave of activism and support not seen before. Her quiet defiance gave the movement something concrete to mobilize around. In fact, Rosa Parks was just 42 years old when she took that famous ride on a City Lines bus in Montgomery – a town known for being the first capital of the pro-slavery Confederacy during the Up from Pine Level Nobody knows exactly where in Tuskegee, Alabama, Rosa McCauley was born on February 4, 1913. The town newspaper reported that the skies were clear and it was unseasonably warm that day, but beyond that, and the fact that she was named after her maternal grandmother, Rose, virtually no reliable documentation exists on the early years of Rosa Louise Parks. As she was also a highly involved and heavily documented Civil Rights Activist, it is able to be recognised through both her self-published autobiographic novel, My Story, and The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development which she founded discussing the 'Pathways to Freedom' and educating young children on the issue of segregation Rosa Parks was brave to get on the bus and sit in the front. Rosa Parks is an important person because she fought for civil rights. Rosa Parks believed in freedom and she believed that we should all be treated the same. What is the truth behind Rosa Parks? Rosa Parks sitting in the front of a bus in Montgomery , Alabama, after the Supreme Court Rosa Parks (center, in dark coat and hat) rides a bus at the end of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Montgomery, Alabama, Dec. 26, 1956. Don Cravens/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images. Most of us know Rosa Parks as the African American woman who quietly, but firmly, refused to give up her bus seat to a white person Dec. 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama. That small act of Similar to most other grandparents, Rosa Parks passed due to complications with Alzheimer’s disease in 2005. There are still many things about the disease that are unclear but here’s what we know: The Parks family didn't have a car until then, according to Jeanne Theoharis, professor of political science at Brooklyn College and author of "The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks."
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