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. Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement, best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement". In 2001, the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, consecrated Rosa Parks Circle, a 3.5-acre park designed by architect Maya Lin, who is best known for designing the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington. Rosa Parks (1913—2005) helped initiate the civil rights movement in the United States when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955. Her actions Rosa Parks, born Rosa Louise McCauley on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama, is celebrated as a pivotal figure in the American civil rights movement. Her most notable act of defiance occurred on December 1, 1955, when she refused to yield her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. Rosa Parks riding the bus in Montgomery, Alabama An African-American, Rosa Parks had lived in the Montgomery area of Alabama since the age of 11. She knew the bus segregation laws there all too well – Black citizens had to ride at the designated back area of the bus, while white people rode at the front. These rules were written in law, but Who was Rosa Parks? Rosa Louise McCauley was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913. She grew up in a world that constantly reminded her she was considered “less than” because of the color of her skin. Schools, water fountains, restaurants, and even sidewalks were divided by strict segregation laws known as “Jim Crow” laws. Rosa Parks is best known for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955, which sparked a yearlong boycott that was a turning point in the civil rights Rosa Parks’ contributions to the civil rights movement . By the time Parks famously refused to give up a seat on a segregated bus in 1955, she was a well-known figure in the struggle for racial Unfortunately, Parks was forced to withdraw after her grandmother became ill. Growing up in the segregated South, Parks was frequently confronted with racial discrimination and violence. She became active in the Civil Rights Movement at a young age. Parks married a local barber by the name of Raymond Parks when she was 19. In 1932 she married Raymond Parks, a barber and member of the NAACP. At that time, Raymond Parks was active in the Scottsboro case. In 1943 Rosa Parks joined the local chapter of the NAACP and was elected secretary. Two years later, she registered to vote, after twice being denied. By 1949 Parks was advisor to the local NAACP Youth Council. 1. Parks was not the first African American woman to be arrested for refusing to yield her seat on a Montgomery bus. Nine months before Parks was jailed, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin was the first Feb. 4, 1913 Rosa Parks with Martin Luther King Jr. Credit: Wikipedia Rosa Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. Although she is best known for refusing to give up her bus seat, she was active in the civil rights struggle long before. 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 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 Rosa Parks, the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement" was one of the most important citizens of the 20th century. Mrs. Parks was a seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama when, in December of 1955, she refused to give up her seat on a city bus to a white passenger. The bus driver had her arrested. She was tried and convicted of violating a local ordinance. Her act sparked a citywide boycott of the Rosa Parks is known as a hero because of her brave act of resistance in December of 1955. But her work for justice went far beyond the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Rosa was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913. She was frustrated by the unfair treatment of Black people at an early age, and she was determined to fight for change. Rosa Parks married Raymond A. Parks in 1932. They remained married until his death in 1977. Source: Library of Congress. Rosa Parks graduated from high school. Rosa Parks earned her diploma in 1933 when less than 7% of African Americans graduated from high school. She had dropped out to care for her dying grandmother, but after getting married She Would Not Be Moved: how we tell the story of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus boycott. New York: The New Press, 2005. ISBN 1595580204; Parks, Rosa, with James Haskins. Rosa Parks, My Story. New York: Dial Books, 1992. ISBN 0803706731; Parks, Rosa, with Gregory J. Reed. Quiet Strength. Zondervan, 1994. ISBN 978-0310501503 Rosa Parks occupies an iconic status in the civil rights movement after she refused to vacate a seat on a bus in favor of a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. In 1955, Parks rejected a bus driver's order to leave a row of four seats in the "colored" section once the white section had filled up and move to the back of the bus.
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