Rosa Parks was a key figure in the American civil rights movement, best known for her act of defiance on December 1, 1955, when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama.
She experienced racial discrimination throughout her life. She became involved in civil rights activism through her work with the NAACP.
Parks’ refusal to move to the back of the bus was driven by a deep-seated resistance to systemic oppression.
Although she faced significant personal and professional challenges after her arrest, she continued her advocacy for civil rights after moving to Detroit.
Parents
Rosa was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama, to James McCauley and Leona Edwards. Her father was a carpenter, and her mother was a teacher.
When Rosa was just two years old, her parents separated, leading her mother to move the family to Pine Level, Alabama, where they lived with Rosa’s maternal grandparents, both of whom were formerly enslaved individuals and advocates for racial equality.
Rosa had a younger brother named Sylvester.
During her childhood, Rosa faced health challenges, including chronic tonsillitis, which often left her bedridden.
Her mother educated her at home before she attended local schools.
The family’s experiences with racial discrimination and violence in the segregated South significantly influenced Parks’ later activism in the civil rights movement.
Career
Parks’ activism was far-reaching and transformative, extending well beyond her famous refusal to give up her bus seat in 1955.
Her journey as an activist began long before that pivotal moment.
In 1943, she joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and became the secretary of its Montgomery chapter.
In this role, she worked on numerous initiatives aimed at combating racial injustice, including investigating cases of racial violence and advocating for civil rights.
One particularly significant case she worked on was the 1944 Recy Taylor case, where a Black woman was kidnapped and raped by six white men in Alabama.
Parks helped organize a national campaign demanding justice for Taylor, bringing attention to the systemic violence faced by Black women.
This case deeply influenced Parks’ understanding of the intersection of race and gender in the fight for equality.
On December 1, 1955, Parks’ refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, became a defining moment in the civil rights movement.
Her arrest for this act of defiance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a mass protest organized by leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr.
The boycott lasted 381 days, during which African Americans in Montgomery refused to use public buses, crippling the city’s transit system and drawing national attention to the injustices of segregation.
The boycott ultimately led to a Supreme Court ruling that declared segregation on public buses unconstitutional.Parks became an icon of the civil rights movement, symbolizing courage and resistance against systemic oppression.
After the boycott, Parks faced severe backlash in Montgomery, including threats to her life and difficulty finding work.
As a result, she moved to Detroit, Michigan, in 1957 with her husband Raymond Parks. In Detroit, she continued her activism by focusing on issues such as fair housing, economic justice, and voter registration.
She also worked against school segregation and participated in numerous marches and demonstrations throughout her life.
Parks remained deeply committed to social justice and was involved with organizations like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), co-founded by Martin Luther King Jr.
