Rosa McCauley Parks

Whenever someone talks about civil rights and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, heads will turn. Many of the people that partook in these events went down in history and Rosa Parks was one of them. She paved the way for civil rights activists behind her to hold their heads up high and stand up for what they believed in.

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee Alabama. Parks was one of two children by Leona McCauley and James McCauley. Her father was a carpenter and her mother taught at rural schools. In 1915, shortly after Parks brother,Sylvester James was born, her parents separated and her mother went to live with Park's grandparents. Parks had very little contact with her dad after the separation. This took a toll on her. Because her dad left, Park's mom had to work twice as hard to make "ends meat", which parentified young Parks as she had to take care of the household chores. When her mother and grandparents became ill, Parks had to take care of everyone. Parks attended the Montgomery Industrial School for girls after being taught at home for three years by her mom. While attending school, Parks had to clean classrooms in exchange for her tuition. After middle school, Parks attended Booker T. Washington high school, where she had to drop out because her mother became terribly sick. While at home caring for her mother,she learned about the hardships of slavery and emancipation from the stories that her grandparents told her. After observing discrimination as a child and listening to the teachings of her grandparents, she realized that discrimination and segregation were wrong.

In 1932, at the age of 19, Parks married Raymond Parks in Pine Level Alabama. After the marriage, Parks worked a variety of jobs to supplement her husband's income from barbering. She sewed at home, worked as a domestic, and insurance salesperson, and an office clerk. Parks and her husband were much alike. They both disliked the fact that there were colored schools that were poorly run and offered little education, but a whites only school that offered an excellent one and actually had books. They disliked the fact that the colored drinking fountain had rust coming out of the pipes and the white's fountain was as clean as it could be. They disliked all of these inequalities and Parks decided to do something about it.

In 1943, Parks became a member of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP. She was one of the first women to do so. She was a secretary for the organization from 1943 to 1956. She then became an advisor for them. Parks also ran the office for Edgar Daniel Nixxon, who was the state NAACP president and the regional officer of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Shortly after that, she joined the Montgomery Voters League, which encouraged African Americans to vote. In the summer of 1955 Parks attended workshops at the integrated Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee, which had been engaged in the civil rights struggle since the 1930's. Whenever she could, she avoided the segregated drinking fountains, "Colored Only" elevators and any other reminder of the low status that was imposed on black people in the south, and soon would do something historical about it. Parks was riding home on a Cleveland Avenue bus from her job at a downtown store on December 1, 1955, when she was faced with the biggest challenge of her life.

The first ten seats on the city busses were always given to the whites and they were all filled up. Parks found a seat in the black section of the crowded bus. A white man came onto the bus and all of the available seats were taken. In situations like this, it was understood that if there were no available seats on the bus and a white passenger boarded, he could make one of the colored seats available to him by ordering one of the passengers to give up their seat. When Parks was asked to give up her seat, she refused. The bus driver called the police and Parks was thrown off the bus and sent to jail. She didn't care that she was thrown off the bus, but she felt pride and dignity after standing up not only for her civil rights, but also for her human rights. She was released from jail on a one-hundred dollar bond and a trial date was scheduled for December 5. The women's Political Council distributed more that 52 thousand fliers throughout Montgomery asking for a boycott on the day of the trial. The success of the boycott led to great strides for black people. Parks allowed her case to become the focus for a struggle against the system of segregation. When she was tried, she was found guilty and fined ten dollars and also had to pay court costs of four dollars . She refused to pay, appealed the case, and won.

On February 1, 1956, in a case to have the Alabama segregation laws declared as unconstitutional, the Montgomery Improvement Association filed a suit in the United States District Court, and on June 2, they won. The Supreme Court stood firm behind this decision and justice was served. On December 20, 1956, the order was served on the Montgomery officials to stop segregating their bus systems.

In 1965 Parks became a staff assistant in the Detroit office of United States Representative John Conyers, where she worked until 1988, when she retired, Park's husband died in 1977 and her mother passed away three years later. Because Parks had been a member of the AME Church throughout her life, she served as a deaconess in St. Mathew AME Church in Detroit.

Rosa Parks has been called "the first lady of the Civil rights movement" and the "Mother of the freedom Movement"(Sunday News magazine, NY, May, 1961), which gave her a permanent place in history. She was the first women to receive the Martin Luther King Jr. Non-Violent Peace Prize, and holds ten honorary degrees, including one from Shaw College in Detroit. Parks was also a recipient for the Eleanor Roosevelt woman of courage award from the Wonder Woman foundation. She also received a medal of honor for her contribution to the diversity of ethnic americans.

Parks continues to make public announcements and speeches across the country to raise money for the NAACP. She also speaks to young people about civil rights and the civil rights movement. She is also still a part of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, church, which sponsored the Rosa Parks Freedom Award. She has a street named after her, has attended ceremonies at the White House, and has partook in many other functions.

Rosa Parks is one of the greatest, wisest, and strongest women of all time. She has made great achievements in her life and has far surpassed the meaning of a saint. She fought for what she believed in, and because of it, set the world free from segregation. The Montgomery Buss Boycott changed the lives of many people. Rosa Parks... a legend... a leader... and most importantly... a fighter.