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. This means that Rosa Parks herself was only two generations removed from slavery. Understanding this fact helps us appreciate the determination and resilience that ran through her veins. Life During Segregation: The Impact on Rosa’s Family. Growing up during a time of extreme racial segregation had a profound impact on Rosa Parks’ family life. 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 was born Rosa Louise McCauley on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama, USA, to Leona and James McCauley. She belonged to a middle class family. Her father was a carpenter, while her mother was a teacher. Her parents separated and she moved to Pine Level with her mother. When Rosa passed away on October 24, 2005, at the age of 92, people around the world mourned her loss. Her body lay in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, an honor reserved for only a few great Americans. Why Rosa Parks Matters. Rosa Parks’ story is a reminder that courage doesn’t always come with loud speeches or grand gestures. The most famous moment of Rosa Parks’s life occurred on December 1, 1955, when she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery bus. This act of defiance was not spontaneous; it was a calculated decision made by a woman who had been involved in civil rights activism for years. Two years after the boycott, still unemployed and poor and both in ill health stemming from stress-related diseases (Rosa was hospitalized for ulcers), Rosa and Raymond Parks relocated to Detroit, where Rosa’s brother lived, along with Rosa’s mother. It was several years before either Rosa or Raymond were physically able to work. Growing up, Rosa was disturbed by the inequality in her society and was often bullied by white children in her neighbourhood although she would not accept it without a fight. In 1932, Rosa was married to Raymond Parks. He was a barber and a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, or NAACP. 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. Rosa Parks smiles during a ceremony where she received the Congressional Medal of Freedom in Detroit on Nov. 28, 1999. Parks, whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man sparked the Growing Up in Jim Crow Montgomery. Colvin grew up in a poor black neighb orhood in Montgomery, Alabama. She was well accustomed with the Jim Crow laws of the South. She says the first time she realized things were different for her was when she was a little girl and her mother took her to a department store. In 2022, the documentary The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks was released on Peacock; it is the first full-length documentary about Parks. [177] Also that year, a major motion film Bowl Game Armageddon was announced, which will spotlight Rosa Parks and Emmett Till leading up to the 1956 Sugar Bowl and Atlanta riots [178] [166] Rosa Parks. It is important to remember that Rosa Parks was perfectly aware that she was not, as it is often claimed, the first black woman to refuse to give up her seat on a segregated bus. She was, however, a “respectable woman” for the standards of the time, which allowed her claims to be taken more seriously. In the chronicles of the Civil Rights Movement, one name remains regrettably shrouded by the obscurity of history – Claudette Colvin. Aged just 15, this fiery teenager, imbued with the spirit of resistance, defied the oppressive conventions of a racially segregated Montgomery, Alabama, a full nine months before the more famous act of defiance by Rosa Parks. On March 2, 1955, Claudette stood After the arrest of Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955, for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, Abernathy, then a member of the Montgomery NAACP, collaborated with King to create the Montgomery Improvement Association, which organized the Montgomery bus boycott. Born in Tuskegee, Alabama, on 4 February 1913, Rosa Louise McCauley Parks grew up in Montgomery and was educated at the laboratory school of Alabama State College. In 1932 she married Raymond Parks, a barber and member of the NAACP. At that time, Raymond Parks was active in the Scottsboro case. Rosa Parks Rosa Parks was a black woman, who played an important part in the American Civil Rights movement. She made changes to try to make life fair for black and white people in America. Early Life Rosa Parks was born on 4th February, 1913 and grew up on a farm with her mother, brother and grandparents in a place called Montgomery in the USA. Most Americans think they know all about Rosa Parks, the quiet seamstress who refused to give up her seat on the bus. Her one-woman stand sparked a citywide boycott and a national civil rights movement. But in the first sweeping biography of her life, author Jeanne Theoharis contends Rosa Parks was not the accidental heroine, a popular myth. She certainly stood up for black people. But let it be said that more than that, Rosa Parks stood up for America, for black people, for white people, for brown people, for yellow people, for everybody who believes in that American dream of justice, of equality, of freedom for all of us. An older Rosa Parks recounted how her grandmother grew very angry when a young Rosa told her about the brick incident and worried for her safety. Rosa told her grandmother: “I would rather be lynched than live to be mistreated than not be allowed to say ‘I don’t like it.’” Rosa Parks framed the power of speaking back as fundamental.
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