Rosa Parks is one of the many women who fought for something they thought was right. She was known as the first lady of civil rights and the mother of the freedom by many of those around her. She was a strong women who wanted to fight for the rights to be equal and to all be treated the same way. She was tired of blacks only being able to attend certain schools,how they could only drink from specified water fountains, how they could borrow books only from the “black” library, she was just fed up of it. She wanted a change and in doing that she was going to have to risk everything to do it.
Rosa Parks was born February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. She was the first child in her family from her parents James and Leona Edwards McCauley. Her
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He supported Rosa as she was attempting to earn her high school diploma which she finally did the next year. She had always believed in being able to defend yourself. Her family had always had a gun in the house for protection including during the boycott (Theoharis 1). She stood up for herself any time a white bully would threaten her when she was younger. She truly was strong even when she was younger and she carried that through her life into being an …show more content…
People of all colors came together and started a boycott of the city bus lines. The boycott had lasted around 381 days. Martin Luther King, Jr. was picked to be the spokesperson for the boycott and he made sure to promote nonviolence to all the people who were part of the boycott. As the boycott in Montgomery grew so did other boycotts all over the states. They were in forms of sit-in, eat ins and many more for similar causes. Thousands of people of color and many whites came together and fought for and demanded equal rights. It was all because Rosa Parks stood up for herself and her equal rights when she was told to move. People saw this and used it as support to speak out on what the believed and how we should all have equal
Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-56 was actually a collective response to decades of intimidation, harassment and discrimination of Alabama's African American population. By 1955, judicial decisions were still the principal means of struggle for civil rights, even though picketing, marches and boycotts sometimes punctuated the litigation. The boycott, which lasted for more than a year, was almost 100 percent effective.
Thesis Statement- Rosa Parks, through protest and public support, has become the mother of the civil rights changing segregation laws forever.
On the website “www.rosaparksfacts.com” it’s stated that Parks has won/ received in total 5 award and also stated her top 10 achievements. Rosa list of 5 award are in 1979 the Spingarn Medal, in 1995 the Golden plate award , in 1996 the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 1999 the Congressional Gold Medal , and in 2000 the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Parks has outstanding, amazing awards due to her dignity and intelligence. First Of all, the spingarn medal in 1979 was given to Rosa parks due to honour “the man or woman of African descent and American citizenship who have made the highest achievement during the preceding year or years in any honorable field.” Second, in 1995 the Golden Plate award was given to Parks due to her actions in the citywide boycott of the bus system by African Americans that lasted more than a year.Third, in 1996 parks received the presidential medal of Freedom due to a meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. fourthly , Rosa Parks received the Congressional Gold medal in 1999 recognized as "a living icon for freedom in America" 44 years after she refused to give up her bus seat for a white man and was arrested. Last but not least, Parks received the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama award in 2000 due to her being in a Story in an
Culturally, the Montgomery Bus Boycott set the mood of the entire Civil Rights Movement. The public buses in Montgomery, Alabama at the time were segregated, the whites sat at the front and the blacks sat at the back. During this time, the white community saw themselves as superior to the other races. However, the African-American community have started to stand up for themselves. Although she was not the first one to do so, Rosa Parks was the one to spark the boycott. She refused to give her seat up to a white passenger which resulted in her arrest. For Parks, “it is unlikely that she fully realized the forces she had set into motion and the controversy that would soon swirl around her” says the official website of the Montgomery Bus
Because she would not move to the back of the bus, she was arrested for violating the Alabama bus segregation laws. Rosa was thrown in jail and fined $140. Enraged by Mrs. Parks arrest the black community of Montgomery, united together and organized a boycott of the bus system until the city buses were integrated. The black men and women stayed off the buses until December 20, 1956, almost thirteen months after the boycott goal was reached. The Montgomery Bus Boycott can be considered a major turning point in the Civil Rights Movement because it made Martin Luther King Jr. public leader in the movement, starting point for non-violent protest as an effective tool in the fight for civil rights, and showed that African-Americans united for a cause could stand up to segregation. Being president of the Montgomery Improvement Association taught Martin Luther the skills and gave him the exposure to become a great leader of a movement as large as the civil rights movement.
The Montgomery bus boycott was caused when Rosa Parks, an African American woman on December 1, 1955 refused to obey the bus driver James Blake’s that demanded that she give up her seat to a white man. Because she refused, police came and arrested her. During her arrest and trial for this act of civil disobedience, it triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott, one of the largest and most successful mass movements against racial segregation in history. Her role in American history earned her an iconic status in American culture, and her actions have left an enduring legacy for civil rights movements around the world. Soon after her arrest, Martin Luther King Jr. led a boycott against the public transportation system because it was unfair. This launched Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the organizers of the
Rosa Parks was a member of the NAACP, lived in Montgomery Alabama, and rode the public bus system. In the south, during this time the buses were segregated which meant that black people had to ride in the back of the bus behind a painted line. White people entered the front of the bus and were compelled to sit in front of the painted line. Most buses at the time had more room for white riders who used the service less than the black ridership. Yet, they could not cross the line even if the seats in the front were empty (Brown-Rose, 2008). Rosa Parks made a bold statement when she sat in the “white section” of a Montgomery bus. She was asked to surrender her seat to a white man, but she did not move and was soon arrested. Her brave action started the Montgomery bus Boycott, with the help of the NAACP, none other than Dr. Martin Luther King’s leadership as part of the Montgomery Improvement Association. As its President, he was able spread the word quickly which brought national attention to the small town of Montgomery’s bus Boycott. The boycott was televised and brought so much attention that the United States Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public transportation was unconstitutional; a success spurring a more
Rosa and her family, then moved to Pine Level, Alabama where they lived on a farm with their grandparents. Rosa loved to explore the outdoors, but had to be careful because of a group called the “Klu Klux Klan.” The “Klu Klux Klan” was a group of people that hated blacks. They would go around and make fun of the blacks, they would sometimes even burn down homes and churches.Rosa was very small for her age and had to spend a lot of her childhood in bed because she
Over the course of his life, Dr. King would lead and participate in multiple non-violent protests against segregation. On the first of December, 1955, the arrest of Rosa Parks in Montgomery, Alabama would trigger the first of many protests led by King. The Montgomery bus boycott would last for 385 days and was so tense that King’s house was bombed. He was later arrested and released after the United States District Courts ruled that segregation on all Montgomery public buses was illegal. This paved the way for King to lead many more protests in his life and becoming a major leader in the desegregation movement.
Rosa Parks was a African American woman who sat in the front of the bus after a long hard day at work. As she traveled on the bus back home, a Caucasian male approached and asked her to get up from her seat to go to the back of the bus because he wanted to sit there. Instead of avoiding the trouble and just going to the back of the bus, she decided to stay where she was . Due to the time period, because of her not giving her seat up to the gentlemen, she was arrested and charged with civil disobedience. After her arrest was made a boycott would ensue
Although the boycott was long, gruesome, and almost 400 days Parks made it through but was exhausted by the end. (biography.com) The leader that started the boycott was Rosa Parks, and without her and the NAACP there would have been no boycott at all. It all started on December 1, 1955, when Rosa Parks was on her way home from a long day at work. After she sat down and the bus was ready to depart, the bus driver asked the first row of African Americans to get up because there was a white man who didn't have a seat.
... in her memory. President Obama once said, “Our nation was forever transformed by her refusal to give up her seat, advancing our journey toward justice and equality for all” (Obama). Parks was a brave, courageous woman who wanted to make a difference for herself and many other African Americans who suffered from segregation laws. She once stated, “I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up, and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom” (Parks). Rosa Parks was successful in her attempts to make the world a better place. She fought against all odds to fight for the rights of African Americans. “Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully we shall overcome” (Parks). Rosa Parks will forever be remembered as the mother of the Civil Rights Movement.
Rosa Parks What’s a hero? A hero is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities. Hero’s can also be someone who has made a change in the world and or a society like Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks is considered a hero because of all the things she went through and made happen throughout her life.
(3) Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955): After the supreme court decided to end segregation, African Americans started to speak out more about their racial opinions. In Montgomery, Alabama, a bus boycott ended with a victory for the African Americans. The Supreme Court ruled that the Alabama segregation laws were unconstitutional. During the boycott a young African American Baptist minister, Martin Luther King, Jr. became well known. Throughout the long contest he advised African Americans to avoid violence no matter had badly provoked by whites. Rosa Parks tired of sitting in the back of the bus, and giving up her seat to white men. One weary day she refused to move from the front of the bus, and she became one of history's heroes in the Civil Rights Act movement.
The black people of Montgomery decided that the best way to show their anger at what had happened and how they were being treated would be by boycott, not use, the local bus service. One the first day of the boycott the buses were almost empty. The black community worked together and arranged another forms of transport such as car pool, or waling. Black taxi companies only charged back passengers the price of the bus fair and some white people who could do without their servants even when to pick them up form their homes. During the boycott the bus company lost 65% of their earnings. This showed people who powerful non-violent protest could be, by challenging black segregation laws without committing a crime. It also showed the black people how powerful they could be if they worked together.