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Also known as "the first lady of civil rights" , Rosa Louise McCauley Parks made a huge difference in the world of Civil Rights. She was born on February 4, 1913, and died October 24, 2005. Her big story started when Mrs. Parks sat down on a bus seat that was only available to white people. This woman's lonesome act of resistance started a movement that terminated legal segregation in the United States and created another role model to freedom-loving people everywhere.
During the life of Rosa Parks, she, among many others, suffered many issues with black codes and Jim Crow laws. She once said in an interview that "Back then, we didn't have any civil rights. It was just a matter of survival, of existing from one day to the next. I remember going to sleep as a girl hearing the Klan ride at night and hearing a lynching and being afraid the house would burn down." (Academy of Achievement) She said that she did not have any special fears, but rather consolation that she was not alone.
Rosa married a man named Raymond Parks in Montgomery, Alabama. Together, they joined the Nati...
On July 16, 1854, an African-American woman named Elizabeth Jennings Graham stood up for herself and rode a white-only horse-drawn carriage. Just like Rosa Parks, she didn’t back down when someone told her to get off. I don’t know much about Graham, but I do know she is not mentioned in most history books. Rosa Parks is one of the most prominent figures in the civil rights movement, but many others were long forgotten about. Parks was very brave and stood up for what she believed in. Why are others like Parks left out of history books and why aren’t they mentioned in schools today? I researched Graham to learn more about her contribution to the process of dissolving segregation. She played a very important role and I wanted to figure out what exactly she did, how it was important, and why it is still important today, regardless if her story made it to the history books or not.
In 1955, and the years surrounding, many events took place during the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Parks was one of few people who undertook courageous acts to make a difference in history. Her legacy lives on to this day in literature because of authors such as Douglas Brinkley. His book, Rosa Parks, describes her life and shows her accomplishments. Brinkley shows how Rosa Parks is a prime example of inspiration to people in his book, and is evidenced by his attitude in the excerpt, his choice of detail, and his textual reference.
Dec. 1, 1955 - Rosa Parks defies city segregation - Often called "the mother of the civil rights movement," Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, b. Tuskegee, Ala., Feb.
Life - Rosa Parks was born only a month before world war one started in Europe on February 4, 1913. Parks mother worked as a school teacher in Tuskegee, Alabama. James McCauley, Rosa's dad was a carpenter. They lived in Tuskegee and owned farmland of their own. After Sylvester was born, Rosa's little brother, her father left them and went off to live in another town. He had been cheated out of his farmland by a white man and couldn't support the family any longer. Rosa her mother and her brother then moved to live with her grandparents on a farm in Pinelevel, which lay between Tuskegee and Montgomery, Alabama. It was a small plot of land, but it kept them all fed. From this point on Rosa was mainly brought up by her Grandparents with the assistance of her mother. Rosa gave up school when she came close to graduating, around the same time Rosa got married. Raymond Parks married Rosa McCauley December 18, 1932. He was a barber from Wedowee County, Alabama. He had little formal education but a thirst for knowledge. Her husband, Raymond Parks, encouraged her to finish her courses. In 1934 she received her diploma from Alabama State College. She was happy that she completed her education but had little hope of getting a better job. When Rosa had finished school she was lucky enough to get a job as a seamstress in a local sewing factory. Prior to the bus incident Rosa was still fighting. She had run-ins with bus drivers and was evicted from buses. Parks recalls the humiliation: "I didn't want to pay my fare and then go around the back door, because many times, even if you did that, you might not get on the bus at all. They'd probably shut the door, drive off, and leave you standing there."
During this time period, Rosa Parks was known as “The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”. Rosa Parks died on October 25, 2005 at age 92. Rosa parks felt that everyone should be free and everyone should have the same rights. Rosa Parks was able to read when she was little because she was born 50 years after slavery, in 1913. Her mother taught her to read when she was very little because she was a teacher (Interview with Rosa Parks). The school she went to was very strict about the way things were done. For example:
Racism and prejudice have been dominant issues in the United States for many years. Being such a major issue is society, racism is also a major theme in one of the best pieces of American Literature, To Kill A Mockingbird. People, particularly African Americans, have been denied basic human rights such as getting a fair trial, eating in a certain restaurant, or sitting in certain seats of public buses. However, in 1955 a woman named Rosa Parks took a stand, or more correctly took a seat, on a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She refused to give her seat to a white man and was arrested for not doing so. The reasons and consequences and the significance of her stand are comparable in many ways to Atticus Finch's stand in To Kill A Mockingbird. Rosa Parks worked for the equality of all people. She was elected secretary of the Montgomery branch of the National Advancement of Colored People, unsuccessfully attempted to vote many times to prove her point of discrimination, and had numerous encounters with bus drivers who discriminated against blacks. She was weary of the discrimination she faced due to the Jim Crow laws, which were laws were intended to prohibit "black[Americans] from mixing with white [Americans]" ("Jim Crow Laws"1). Also, due to the Jim Crow laws, blacks were required to give their seats to white passengers if there were no more empty seats. This is exactly what happened on December 1, 1955. On her way home from work, Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white man and was shortly arrested (National Women's Hall of Fame1). Even though she knew what the consequences were for refusing to leave her seat, she decided to take a stand against a wrong that was the norm in society. She knew that she would be arrested, yet she decided that she would try to make a change. Although her arrest would seem like she lost her battle, what followed would be her victory. Rosa Parks's stand was so significant that she is called the mother of the civil rights movement (National Women's Hall of Fame1). Her arrest served as a catalyst for a massive boycott for public busses. Led by Martin Luther King, for 381 days, African Americans carpooled, walked, or found other ways of transportation. Despite the harassment everyone involved in the movement faced, the boycott continued and was extremely successful.
Rosa Parks was an African-American women who was tired of being treated differently just because of her skin color. She was a very kind woman who fought against all the laws and segregation. Rosa was born in 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama and died in 2005 in Detroit, Michigan (RM, plc. "Rosa (Louise McCauley) Parks"4). She did something that broke the law at the time but it changed this place and its keeps being an impact to everyone now in present days (Armentrout, DavidArmentrout, Patricia. "ALABAMA: Rosa Parks."1 ). She was on a Boycott bus on December 1, 1955 when the bus filled up and the African-Americans were supposed to give their seat up to the Americans but Rosa didn’t (Badertscher 1). She was 42 at this time so she knew what she was doing and she decided to do it anyways ("Rosa Parks"1). When she refused to give her seat up they ended up taking her to jail because she was breaking a law at the moment (Badertscher 7). She went to jail for something unfair, she was tired of getting no respect and treated like if she nobody or nothing in this world.
The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement Have you ever stood up for someone or something, even if it risked your own life? An upstander is someone who sees something harmful happening and tries their best to help out without second guessing themselves. Rosa parks is an inspirational role model to women and men all around the world. Rosa Parks has been a leader since she was a kid at school.
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama in February of 1913. After her parents separated, her mother moved the family to Pine Lakes, Alabama. There the family lived with her mother’s parents. Her grandparents were both former slaves and strong believers in racial equality. Rosa Parks attended a segregated school until the 11th grade when she left school to take care of her grandmother. Instead of returning to school she got a job as a seamstress in a factory. Biography states, “When Rosa was 19 years old, she met and married Raymond Parks, a barber and an active member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People” (Biography, 2014). With the help of Raymond she eventually completed high school and also became an active member of the NAACP.
In conclusion, Rosa Parks was an outstanding hero that helped desegregate the city buses of Montgomery, Alabama. She gained a lot of fellow friendships and also became a civil right Activists. She earned a lot of respect and rewards for her actions of not giving her seat up. As you can see her life her hero story fits very well with Joseph Campbell’s stages of the hero’s
What do all heroes have? Courage! Rosa Parks, Monuments Men, and the International Women of Courage are all the definition of courage. Being courageous means to have strength, bravery, and determined on your beliefs.
"Rosa Parks Biography -- Academy of Achievement." Academy of Achievement Main Menu. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. .
For half of her life, there had been laws and customs that kept African Americans segregated from the Caucasians. These laws allowed whites to treat blacks without any respect. These actions were never thought to be fair. Even as a child, Rosa protested against disrespectful treatment. Yet, it was very difficult to do anything about the law, when all the law makers were of white ethnicity.
Walker found the love of her life in 1967, a white activist civil rights lawyer name Mel Leventhal, and they were married in 1967.
Rosa Parks, was a Civil Rights activist who was best known for the incident on the Montgomery bus. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white male who demanded she seat herself in the ‘appropriate colored’ space located at the back of the bus for black men and women. Her defiance to the law that day became known to the world.