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Rosa Parks: Catalyst for Civil Rights

Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, which sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped launch the modern American Civil Rights Movement. Although Parks is best known for this act of defiance, she had been an advocate for civil rights for many years prior, as the secretary of the local NAACP chapter where she investigated cases of discrimination and lynching. Later in life, Parks continued her activism by co-founding an institute to educate youth about civil rights and working with a congressman on housing issues facing the homeless.

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152 views1 page

Rosa Parks: Catalyst for Civil Rights

Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, which sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped launch the modern American Civil Rights Movement. Although Parks is best known for this act of defiance, she had been an advocate for civil rights for many years prior, as the secretary of the local NAACP chapter where she investigated cases of discrimination and lynching. Later in life, Parks continued her activism by co-founding an institute to educate youth about civil rights and working with a congressman on housing issues facing the homeless.

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© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Lets take an adventure back in time.

The time is 1950, the economy is booming,


everyone is living the American Dream, babies are being born, credit cards were
introduced, organ transplantation has just occurred, and the war was almost over.
Everyone was happy over everything, except racism and segregation which had
been on the rise. Back then colored folk as many people called them, didnt have
civil rights or any rights at all really. They were forced to use separate bathrooms,
water fountains, could only eat in certain restaurants, only shop certain places, and
many more things. Although there had been laws and court cases stating being
separate and equal was okay, it was in-fact not okay. Would they ever get a break?
Fast forward about 5 years, everything is still the same, with the exception of
racism. Racism and segregation of African American people was even worse than it
had been 5 years previous. Now there were people being beat and battered, the Klu
Klux Klan was in full swing, and people feared leaving their houses. People who tried
to stand up for their rights were either beat or pushed under the rug. But change
was upon them and no one saw it coming. On December 1st 1995 in Montgomery,
Alabama while on her way to work Rosa Parks was taking the bus just like usual, as
the bus began to fill she was told to stand and give her seat to a white passenger.
She replied with one simple word, no. She refused to stand and give up her seat.
Two police officers then entered the bus and whisked her away to jail, being fined
for not complying with city ordinances. By her refusing to stand, she started the civil
rights movement. After Parks refused to give up her seat, blacks boycotted buses in
Montgomery. The boycott lasted for over a year. Thus began her being called the
"Mother of Civil Rights."
Although Parks is most widely known for refusing to give up her seat on the bus, in
her lifetime she accomplished way more than that. Rosa Parks was an advocate of
rights for most of her lifetime. In Rosa Parks: Civil Rights Pioneer, it says that in
1987 Parks and friend Elaine Steele started the Raymond and Rosa Parks Institute.
This institute was formed to help the younger African Americans learn about the
civil rights and what role Rosa took in the movement. The institute also helped the
youth with job training. Even before refusing to give up her seat she was the
secretary of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
and also founded the NAACP Youth Council. As secretary, she traveled throughout
Alabama to interview victims of discrimination and had witnessed lynchings. After
the boycott, she was still an active member of the NAACP, but also worked with
Congressman John Conyers helping the homeless to find housing.

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