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 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. 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 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 Civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, sparking the transformational Montgomery Bus Boycott. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks boarded a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Instead of going to the back of the bus, which was designated for African Americans, she sat in the front. When the bus started to fill up with white passengers, the bus driver asked Parks to move. She refused. 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. She also co-founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development. The nonprofit served young people. Rosa and Raymond never had children of their own, but young people were always important to Rosa. Before Rosa’s arrest, 15-year Claudette Colvin had been arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat. Rosa Parks suffered for her civil rights stance. She and her husband lost their jobs and received death threats. Raymond and Rosa moved to Hampton, VA before settling in Detroit where Parks continued her battle against racial discrimination. In Detroit, she focused on the city’s unfair housing practices and other inequalities. 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 She and her family moved to Detroit due to harassment. She worked for Congressman John Conyers Jr. between 1965 and 1988, when she retired. She continued to support civil rights and toured America giving speeches and attending events. In 1992, her autobiography, Rosa Parks: My Story, was published. 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' Bus . In 1955, African Americans were still required by a Montgomery, Alabama, city ordinance to sit in the back half of city buses and to yield their seats to white riders if the Before she became famous, and before Martin Luther King Jr. became a well-known leader, Parks was already working hard for civil rights. She was actively involved with the NAACP and other local groups working for change. Parks had a strong character and a deep sense of what was right, which helped set the stage for the bus boycott. On December 1, 1955, during a typical evening rush hour in Montgomery, Alabama, a 42-year-old woman took a seat on the bus on her way home from the Montgomery Fair department store where she worked as a seamstress. Before she reached her destination, she quietly set off a social revolution when the bus driver instructed her to move back, and she refused. Rosa Parks, an African American, was When Claudette Colvin was 15, she refused to move to the back of the bus and give up her seat to a white person — nine months before Rosa Parks did the very same thing. Colvin was the first to really challenge the law. Now a retiree, Colvin lives in the Bronx. Rosa Parks chose to be arrested instead of giving up her seat and became a symbol of the fight against an unjust, racist system. She was nicknamed “the first lady of civil rights” by the U.S. Congress. The Early Life And Activism Of Rosa Parks . Rosa Parks was born in 1913 (February 4), in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her maiden name was McCauley. Rosa Parks became an iconic figure in the fight against racial discrimination when she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955. This act of defiance was more than just a refusal to move; it was a statement against the unjust laws of segregation that plagued the American South. Her arrest was the catalyst for the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a pivotal Also you can type in your Google search engine ' Rosa Parks, Why is she famous?' and that can give you some background information about her childhood. Try that, hopefully it helps! Tags Rosa Parks
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