Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was a person who fought for the rights of black people. She had dark skin and in the early 1900’s, black people didn’t have the rights of white people. Black people were treated badly. Black people and white people were separated. Black people and white people couldn’t go to the same restaurants, stores, and they couldn’t even drink in the same water fountain. Rosa Parks wanted to do something about it.
Childhood
Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913. Rosa was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. Rosa’s parents separated when Rosa was 2 years old. Rosa was also homeschooled. When Rosa was 10 years old, a white boy said he was going to hit her. Rosa stood up for herself and the boy ran away. When Rosa was 11 years old, she went to Miss White’s School for Girls in Montgomery, Alabama. When Rosa grew up, she went to a college called Alabama State Teachers College for Negroes. While she was in college, Rosa’s grandmother became very ill and Rosa left school. Then her grandmother died. After her grandmother died, her mom got sick and Rosa left school again.
Adult Life
When Rosa was an adult, she was tired of segregation. One day, Rosa went to the bus. She paid the bus driver and sat in a seat. In that time, when a black person sat down on a bus and there are no more seats for a white person, a black person has to give up a seat. When Rosa took a seat, white people walked into the bus and there were no more seats. All of the black people stood up, except for Rosa. The driver asked if she was going to stand up, but Rosa said no. The bus driver called the police and she was arrested. After she was released from prison, she was married to Raymond Parks on December 18, 1932. She joined the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). The NAACP was originally created to defend the civil rights of black people. Rosa Parks became a member in 1943. Rosa received her high school diploma in 1934. Rosa worked with teens in the NAACP to plan a protest at the local library. The library did not allow black people to borrow books. Activists were often threatened, beaten, or even killed. Rosa tried to vote. Before white people and black people had to take a test to vote. White people had easy tests and and black people had harder tests. Rosa passed the test and voted. In 1994, she traveled to Sweden to receive the Rosa Parks Peace Prize. In 1965, Rosa began working for Congressman John Conyers. She continued working for him until 1988. In 1999, she received the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal. Rosa speaks at the March on Washington in Washington, D.C. Then Raymond and Rosa moved to Detroit, Michigan to start new lives. Raymond Parks died in 1977, so Rosa helped open the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development. Then, a few years later, Rosa died at home in Detroit, Michigan on October 24, 2005.
Challenges
Rosa Parks had dark skin and she didn’t have the rights that white people had. White people and black people were separated. When Rosa was a little girl, a group called the KKK destroyed black churches and homes. Sometimes the KKK even killed black people. After the bus boycott there were consequences. Sugar was poured in carpool gas tanks. Acid was thrown at participating cars. People received threats at home and at work. Then Rosa lost her job at the department store.
Impact
Rosa Parks fought for the rights of black people. After Rosa got arrested, other black people heard what happened to Rosa and did a boycott for riding the bus. A teenager named Claudette sat on the bus and refused to stand up for a white person and got arrested. Another teenager named Mary Louise Smith was arrested on October 1. When Rosa voted, some schools became desegregated. Now, Rosa Parks is remembered as the mother of the civil rights movement for her courage in fighting segregation.
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