Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913. Rosa Parks grew up in a good home with great parents. They taught her how everyone should be treated equally and how they're all the same. Nobody's better than the other.

Rosa Parks' grandparents were slaves, so she really didn't approve of racism. Her grandparents went through a lot. So, Rosa Parks' family thought that slavery and racism was just plain mean and wrong. When she was younger she was home schooled until she was 11 because her mom wanted to try to keep her from all the racism but then her mom decided to put her into Montgomery School for girls. When Rosa was younger she was scared of the reality. People talked about her in her face and behind her back just because she was black.

She did go to college though, she wasn't going to let anyone prevent her from getting her education. But, sadly she did drop out to take care of her grandma. Then when she died she had to care for her mother, so she put her education on hold. She then met Raymond Parks who was a barber. Then he joined the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People).

Rosa also worked as a needleworker. And she made dresses, skirts etc. from day to night so she was often tired and one day she decided to take the bus home. But, black people had to sit in the back of the bus unlike the whites because the whites get first pick. Plus sometimes they had to get on the bus by the back door of the bus if the front was full. And the bus driver also thought it was funny to leave a black person behind.

Then one day, on December 1, 1955, after a very long day at work she was tired, not in a good mood and ready to go home. So, she got a seat then a white man got on the bus and wanted to get a seat so the bus driver told Rosa and 3 other guys to move and make room for him. They did as he asked but Rosa thought that was stupid and stayed in her seat. Then, the bus driver got in her face and yelled and she didn't argue she just said, "No." So then the bus driver called the police and she was arrested. She was released later in the evening. She told the NAACP that she was tired of being treated differently. Everyone agreed with her and started a Boycott. They kept to it too. For more then 391 days they did everything they could to not ride the bus. They walked, took a cab and got a ride with others.

When they did that there was a lot of uncalled for violence. The whites destroyed and damaged a lot of the black people's stuff. Then, that's when Martin Luther King decided to take a stand.

In November 13, 1956 the United States Supreme Court decided that the blacks and whites should have equal rights. So the colored and white signs were taken off the buses and the boycott ended.

Rosa lost her job after the boycott and nobody in Montgomery would hire her so Rosa and Raymond moved down to Virginia.

During her time she won a lot of rewards for different reasons. In Montgomery there is a library and museum dedicated to her for everything she did out there for them. But, Rosa passed away on October 24, 2005. She was then 92 years of age. Her casket was put in the Rotunda in the United States Capital. That's where the presidents are placed when they die. People waited in line to show their respect to her; it was a sad moment.