Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks

A hero is a person who stands up for what they believe in, knowing the consequences of their actions and still doing it. A person who does what they do for the good of others and future generations, not for themselves in the present. Rosa Parks sat on a bus for others and started a civil rights movement. Rosa Parks is my hero for her bravery and for her helpful contribution for those around her who were being discriminated against.

Rosa Parks was born as Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her parents were James McCauley and Leona Edwards and she was born on February 4th 1913. When she was a child she had many health problems and chronic tonsillitis. When her parents split up she moved with her mother to a farm outside of Montgomery, Alabama and lived with her grandparents, mother, and brother, Sylvester. Rosa’s grandparents were slaves all through their lives until the emancipation and after they were freed things weren’t much better. Rosa was incredibly influenced by her mother because her mother was a teacher at her school and was a big part of Rosa’s life. Rosa Parks had discrimination in her life for her entire life and knew that she wanted to change things for others and especially for her family.

In 1955, black people and white people were separated in almost every aspect of everyday life in the South. One of those ways was on the Montgomery Bus System, on the buses the black people and white people had separate seating. On December 1st 1955 Rosa Parks boarded the bus in Montgomery and like all the other black people sat at the back. When all the white seats were occupied, a white man boarded the bus. When the white man had nowhere to sit, he ordered Rosa to give up her seat, but she refused. Then the bus driver told her to give up her seat but she again refused. When she refused to give up her seat people blamed her and told her she was sitting in the “white” section of the bus, but she was not. Rosa’s refusal left the bus at a stand still and when two policemen came on, she asked them why she was being arrested and all they said was, the law is the law, you’re under arrest.

Rosa was arrested and taken to the police station and put in jail until December 2nd, the following evening. In the trial, on December 4th, Rosa was found guilty, her lawyers filed an appeal and she didn’t have to pay a fine. On this day, most everyone boycotted the bus system and they saw it as such an effective protest that they decided to boycott the buses until changes were made in their favor. Also on December 5th Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, and many others began the Montgomery Improvement Association. The Parks Institute is dedicated to teaching children all over North America and teaching them about their history and that all people are equal. Rosa Parks believed her whole life that all should be equal and all should have freedom.

Rosa Parks is my hero because she stood up for what she believed, and knew what she believed in, equality, change, and freedom for all. I look up to her because of her closeness to her family, her bravery, and her loving for her fellow people. I like that Rosa Parks didn’t insist on using violence, she just wanted a change, and a change is what she made.