Tired of Giving In
Who was Rosa Parks?
Rosa Louise Parks was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her crucial role in the Montgomery bus boycott.
On December 1st, 1955, Parks refused to give up a seat on a Cleveland Avenue Bus. Her refusal led to her arrest in which she was charged with a violation of Chapter 6 Section 11 segregation law of the Montgomery City code. According to Wikipedia, Parks wasn't the first person to resist bus segregation, but the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) believed that she was the best candidate for seeing through a court challenge after her arrest. She was also fined $10, plus $4 in court costs *equivalent to $126.18.*
The arrest of Rosa Parks birthed the Montgomery Bus Boycott - a 381 day boycott that ended with the United States Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional. The African American community refused to ride the bus: carpooling, using black-operated cabs, and walking as far as 20 miles. Parks became an icon of the Civil Rights movement.
During the 1970's Parks participated in activism nationally and organized for the freedom of political prisoners in the United States. The 1970's was also a decade of great loss for Parks. Her family was plagued with illness, she and her husband suffered from stomach ulcers for years, and both required hospitalization. Unfortunately, on August 19th, 1977 her husband passed away due to throat cancer, and in November her brother also passed away due to cancer. Parks also suffered from two broken bones caused by a fall on an icy sidewalk, and found out about the passing of a close friend from a newspaper.
On October 24th, 2005, at the age f 92, Rosa Parks passed away, in her apartment on the side of Detroit.
Books
*Kids*
Rosa Parks: Little People, Big Dreams | Lisabeth Kaiser
Rosa Parks: My Story | Rosa Parks
I Am Rosa Parks | Brad Meltzer
Who was Rosa Parks? | Yona Z. McDonough
I Am Rosa Parks | Rosa Parks & James Haskins
If a Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks | Faith Ringgold
*Adults*
Rosa Parks: My Story | Rosa Parks
Reflections by Rosa Parks: The Quiet Strength and Faith of a Woman Who Changed a Nation | Rosa Parks
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks | Jeanne Theoharis
Movie(s) | Film(s) | Documentaries'
Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks | 2002
The Rosa Parks Story | 2002
Sources
"Rosa Parks" Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 May 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks
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