Rosa Parks Day

 

Rosa Parks Day

February 4th is a day of celebration and reflection for the life and achievements of Rosa Parks, but who was she?

Rosa Parks was a civil rights leader whose refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. But what else do we know about Rosa?

Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama.Both of Rosas' grandparents were formerly enslaved people and strong advocates for racial equality; the family lived on the Edwards' farm, where Rosa would spend her youth. Rosa experinces many racial discriminations in her youth.In one incident, Rosas' grandfather had to defend their home while Ku Klux Klan members marched down the street.

Rosa attended segregated schools which often lacked basic equipment and educational tools.Rosa left school to tend to her sick mother and grandmother, but she later returned to get her high school degree. 

Rosa became actively involved in civil rights issues by joining the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP in 1943, serving as the chapter's youth leader as well as secretary to NAACP President E.D. Nixon.

On the 1st December 1955, after a long day of work, Rosa boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus for home. She took a seat in the first of several rows designated for "colored" passengers.

As the bus Parks was riding continued on its route, it began to fill with white passengers. Eventually, the bus was full and the driver noticed that several white passengers were standing in the aisle. The bus driver stopped the bus and moved the sign separating the two sections back one row, asking four Black passengers to give up their seats.Three of the other Black passengers on the bus complied with the driver, but Rosa refused and remained seated. The driver demanded, "Why don't you stand up?" to which Rosa replied, "I don't think I should have to stand up." The driver called the police and had her arrested.She was taken to police headquarters, where, later that night, she was released on bail.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott

To protest her arrest, Members of the African American community were asked to stay off city buses on Monday, December 5, 1955 — the day of Rosas' trial. With most of the African American community not riding the bus, organizers believed a longer boycott might be successful. The Montgomery Bus Boycott, as it came to be known, was a huge success, lasting for 381 days and ending with a Supreme Court ruling declaring segregation on public transit systems to be unconstitutional.

You can learn more about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott here:

https://www.biography.com/activists/rosa-parks 

Want to intoroduce some key moments from Black History to your class? Check out our workshop The History Train.