Rosa Louise McCauley Parks

(http://img.timeinc.net/time/time100/images/main_parks.jpg)

My Hero is Rosa L. Parks. Birth name Rosa Louise McCauley. Born on February 4 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her mother, Leona McCauley, was a teacher while her father, James McCauley, was a carpenter. After her parents divorced she moved with her mother and younger brother to Pine Level, Alabama. She was home schooled until she was 11 years old, and continued her education at an all girls school in Montgomery, Alabama. She later attended Alabama State Teachers College (an all black college). She had to drop out because her grandmother was getting ill then later her mother. She later married Raymond Parks in 1932. Raymond was a member of the NAACP. Because her husband assisted she continued her high school studies in 1933.

Rosa Sitting on the Bus (http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/sharemed/ targets/images/pho/t012/T012714A.jpg)

December 1, 1955 Rosa rode the bus from work. Her and some other Blacks was sitting the middle row of the bus. And the middle row was not assigned for a specific race, but if the white section was full all blacks that were in the middle section were to get out of there seats just because one white man needed a seat. Well this day Rosa Parks and the other blacks were to get out of their seats because a white man needed a seat. Rosa didn’t get up because she felt that she had the same rights as a white man and she could stay there. She just sat there as if nothing was happening, ignoring the man. The driver was getting fed up and threatened to call the cops. She sad “you may do so”. The driver called the cops and Rosa was arrested and charged for violating Alabama Segregation Law. December 5 the day of her trial, the boycott started. It was not to be over till the bus segregation was over. This boycott lasted 382 days, lead by the late Martin Luther King Jr. and other supporters.

Rosa Parks lived from February 4, 1913 to October 25, 2005. She died at the age of 92. It was said that she died of natural causes. She lived an accomplished life, and went through lots of obstacles. She made it through though.

She is very important to me because she stood up for what she believed. Rosa made a big difference in me and other African Americans' lives. Without her and other activist we wouldn’t be able to ride the bus with whites, go to certain restaurants, schools, malls, movie theaters, skating rings, and more. We probably wouldn’t have friends of a different races today. She worked hard and went through a lot for her and other blacks' freedom. Rosa L. Parks taught me something in life. If you believe in something, work for it, don’t give up and something great will come out of it; and no matter if you are black, white, Mexican, purple, green, or yellow, you all have the same rights.