Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks (Cade Adkins (Cade Adkins))

How many heroes can you say are black women or just a woman in general?  Rosa Parks is my hero, famous for not giving up her seat on an Alabama bus to a white man, but she did so much more for the cause towards freedom before and even after that event. Rosa was a strong-willed colored woman in a time when it was the worst to be.

Before Rosa refused to give up her seat, she also refused to give up on fighting for her right to vote.  In the 1940s, segregationists made it very difficult for blacks to register to vote. Rosa managed to register to vote but she was denied twice. She refused to give up and on her third try she received her certificate.

Rosa wanted to help other colored people in anyway she could. Her husband was a member of the N.A.A.C.P. and on December 1943, she attended one of the meetings. She became the second woman to join the N.A.A.C.P. and worked as their secretary during their first meeting. She became an advisor for their youth counsel and attended workshops to help educate other blacks on basic citizenship so they could become teachers for others. She took great pride in helping others.

When Rosa famously refused to give up her seat, she sparked up a debate over civil rights that ended the 1^st victory for blacks in the 'Civil Rights Movement'.  Segregation on buses was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court on November 13, 1956.  A big part of that victory goes to Rosa Parks.  Rosa Parks has said that she refused to give up her seat because she was tired, not physically but emotionally tired, of being mistreated and keeping her head down and not doing anything about it.  She stood up for herself and her people not knowing the consequences she might face. She was an ordinary person who stood up for what was right.