Rosa Parks
There were many women who have changed the world in the fields of math, science, sports, music, writing and leadership. Rosa Parks was a leader to help the blacks become equal to whites. Eleanor Roosevelt was also a leader because she helped the poor. Harriet Tubman was also a leader which helped free black slaves. I am going to tell what Rosa Parks did to help the world be a better place. Parks, Rosa Louise (1913- ), civil rights leader, born in Tuskegee,
Alabama. She attended Alabama State College, worked as a seamstress and housekeeper, and was active in the Montgomery Voters League and the NAACP
(National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Youth Council. In
1943 she was elected secretary of the Montgomery branch of the NAACP. In a celebrated incident in 1955 she was arrested for violating segregation laws when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. This resulted in a boycott of the bus system by blacks, with Martin Luther King, Jr. leading the movement. In spite of harassment the boycott continued, and in 1956 segregated seating was challenged in a federal lawsuit. Within a few months bus segregation was ruled unconstitutional, and the buses were officially desegregated in
December 1956. Parks, who had lost her job because of the boycott, moved to
Detroit, Michigan, the following year, and again took in sewing. She also worked as a fundraiser for the NAACP. In 1965 she was hired by Congressman John Conyers,
Jr., also a civil rights leader, to manage his Detroit office. She remained active in the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). In
1987 she founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development,
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
Thesis Statement- Rosa Parks, through protest and public support, has become the mother of the civil rights changing segregation laws forever.
black woman) refused to give her sat up to a white person on a bus.
Nearly 200 years ago after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, slavery was no longer allowed but America was still segregated. Segregation in many public places continued especially in the South. At this time segregation was legal. In 1892 the Supreme Court had ruled that a state could separate whites and blacks, as long as the services were equal. On February 4, 1913 Rosa Parks was born. Her real name was Rosa Louise McCauley Parks . The schools Rosa Parks are Montgomery Industrial School for Girls, Alabama State Teachers College. Rosa parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. He mothers name is Leona McCauley which is a teacher. Her father is James McCauley, who works as a carpenter. Rosa Parks had a sibling a young brother called Sylvester McCauley. He was born on 25th August 1915 and he died on 27th November 1977. He died of cancer. In her younger years she was sick much of the time, and as a result, was a small child. Her parents eventually separated and her mother took her and her brother and moved to Pine Level, a town adjacent to Montgomery, Alabama.
Rosa became tired of waiting for the world to change on its own, or was afraid that it will never change, so she revolted against the unfair prejudice laws and has successfully made African-Americans equal and inspired many to stand up for justice. When faced with a situation where wrong and hurtful things are being done, people should follow Rosa Park’s remarkable example and not be afraid to say or do something to stop them from happening, no matter who they are. Rosa Parks has shown marvelously, anyone can be a hero. Rosa Parks now stand for symbol of fight for equal rights and freedom.
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.
“I’d just like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free and wanted other people to be also free” (Modigliani). The words Rosa Parks used to describe her ultimate hopes for the legacy she would leave behind are simple yet powerful. The fight for Civil Rights during the 1950s and 60s was hard fought, though the results were long overdue. Rosa Parks, like many others, experienced discrimination for much of her life, however when she acted against it the nation listened; she had initiated the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Rosa Parks influenced the Civil Rights movement by working to peacefully achieve equality. This peaceful approach would prove to be successful, as the work and influence she had would be key in the outcome of the Civil Rights movement.
Throughout the African American civil rights movement opportunities were sought to spark a chance at improving conditions in the south. Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on the Montgomery, Alabama bus was the fire to that spark. Rosa, standing up for herself something anyone person in today’s world would do, was arrested and put in jail. While Rosa was in jail she caught the eye of many people in the Civil Rights Movement, including the leaders. The Civil Rights leaders protested her arrest and hired lawyers to aid her in her trial. Although she was found guilty and was fined fourteen dollars for the cost of the court case, which lasted on thirty minutes, she wasn’t done yet. Rosa Parks has affected the society we live in today in many ways, she is the most influential person the black community has ever seen.
"Rosa Parks." Biography 5.12 (2001): 64. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 22 May 2014.
Rosa Parks was a big activist when it came to the Civil Rights Movement. “Rosa Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her father was James McCauley, a carpenter, and her mother was Leona McCauley, a teacher. She moved to her grandparents' farm in Pine Level, Alabama when she was two with her mother and younger brother, Sylvester. Her mother taught until she was 11. Once she turned 11 she was sent to the Montgomery Industrial School, this school was a private school founded by a woman from the northern United States. The school was founded and staffed by whites to educate black children; the school was burned down twice by arsonists from the white community. Parks took academic classes there. (Woo, Elaine).” After she finished school, she then started to get into the political area. “Mrs. Rosa Parks was often known as the mother of the movement that led to the dismantling of established segregation in the South; Mrs. Parks became a symbol of human dignity when she was jailed for refusing to move from her bus seat to give it up to a white man when she rode home from work.
Rosa Parks was arrested for violating a city law that allowed racial segregation on public busses. Rosa knew this law violated her civil rights and that she deserved to be treated
“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” (BrainyQuote.com). No one can change the world by themselves, but they can always make an impact on the world. Rosa Parks, along with others, was one of those people who made an impact on the Civil Rights Movement. She was influenced early in her life, she acted in the Montgomery Bus Boycott; she was affected by the boycott, and had an effect on the Civil Rights Movement.
It is clear that today’s society is impacted by the courage of Rosa Parks. Her silent protest had a great effect on the social progression in America. Rosa Parks’ contribution to the Civil Rights movement shows her passion for change, and her yearning for equality. If one thing can be learned from Parks’ story, it’s this: sometimes taking a seat is more important than taking a
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. Everyone got up except Parks, because she didn't want to give in and let them win. “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired,” wrote Parks in her autobiography, “but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically… No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”(history.com) Parks was done with being treated badly and tired of being discriminated against, she just wanted her rights back, according to
Rosa Parks: My Story is an autobiography. Parks tells about her vital role in the struggle for equality. In detail this book explains how the civil rights movements started. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus, beginning the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott.