Rosa Parks

Do you know that Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat on the bus to a white person?

She was born in Alabama on February 4, 1913. Her mother's name was Leona, her father's name was James. Rosa's mother was a school teacher. Her father was someone who built houses. Rosa lived on a farm. Her brother’s name was Sylvester. Sylvester and Rosa loved to go fishing.

When Rosa was in school, discrimination against African Americans was common. There were laws that kept black and white people segregated. Rosa’s mother taught her how to read at six years old! Rosa went to school for only five months a year . She was in a very small room for those months. Rosa Parks' mother had to drive Rosa to school every day. Her mother was a school teacher and Leona at times home schooled Rosa.

Rosa was a seamtress, a house keeper and was in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Later in her life, she worked as a fundraiser for the NAACP. She managed a congressman’s office. After the death of her husband in 1987, she started The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development.

Rosa Parks being fingerprinted

After she refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white person in Montgomery, Alabama, in the 1950s, the black people of Montgomery boycotted the bus system. This was a major moment in the Civil Right’s Movement. She got arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus to a white person. Rosa won a medal in 1979 and wrote a book about herself in 1992. She won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996. Also she won the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999. She died on October 24, 2005.

What I admire most about Rosa Parks is that she sat down for what she beleved in!!!