Transcript Rosa Park - Dynamic Citizens

By Nafisa Rahman
Rosa grew up in the southern United States in Alabama.
Her full name was Rosa Louise McCauley and she was
born in Tuskegee, Alabama on February 4, 1913 to
Leona and James McCauley. Her mother was a teacher
and her father a carpenter. She had a younger brother
named Sylvester.
Her parents separated while she was still young and
she, with her mother and brother, went to live on her
grandparent's farm in the nearby town of Pine Level.
Rosa went to the local school for African-American
children where her mother was a teacher.
Rosa's mother wanted her to get a high school education, but
this wasn't easy for an African-American girl living in
Alabama in the 1920s. After finishing up elementary school
at Pine Level she attended the Montgomery Industrial
School for Girls. Then she attended the Alabama State
Teacher's College in order to try and get her high school
diploma. Unfortunately, Rosa's education was cut short
when her mother became very ill. Rosa left school to care
for her mother.
A few years later Rosa met Raymond Parks. Raymond was a
successful barber who worked in Montgomery. They
married a year later in 1932. Rosa worked part time jobs and
went back to school, finally earning her high school
diploma. Something she was very proud of.
During this time, the city of Montgomery was
segregated. This meant that things were different for
white people and black people. They had different
schools, different churches, different stores, different
elevators, and even different drinking fountains. Places
often had signs saying "For Coloured Only" or "For
Whites Only". When Rosa would ride the bus to work,
she would have to sit in the back in the seats marked
"for coloured". Sometimes she would have to stand
even if there were seats open up front.
Growing up Rosa had lived with racism in the south. She was
scared of the members of the KKK who had burned down black
school houses and churches. She also saw a black man get beaten
by a white bus driver for getting in his way. The bus driver only
had to pay a $24 fine. Rosa and her husband Raymond wanted to
do something about it.
Rosa saw the opportunity to do something when the Freedom
Train arrived in Montgomery. The train was supposed to not be
segregated according to the Supreme Court. So Rosa led a group
of African-American students to the train. They attended the
exposition on the train at the same time and in the same line as
the white students. Some people in Montgomery didn't like this,
but Rosa wanted to show them that all people should be treated
the same.
t was on December 1, 1955 that Rosa made her famous
stand (while sitting) on the bus. Rosa had settled in
her seat on the bus after a hard days work. All the seats
on the bus had filled up when a white man boarded.
The bus driver told Rosa and some other AfricanAmericans to stand up. Rosa refused. The bus driver
said he would call the police. Rosa didn't move. Soon
the police showed up and Rosa was arrested.
Rosa was charged with breaking a segregation law and was told to pay a
fine of $10. She refused to pay, however, saying that she was not guilty
and that the law was illegal. She appealed to a higher court.
That night a number of African-American leaders got together and
decided to boycott the city busses. This meant that Africans would no
longer ride the busses. One of these leaders was Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. He became the president of the Montgomery Improvement
Association which helped to lead the boycott.
It wasn't easy for people to boycott the busses as many AfricanAmericans didn't have cars. They had to walk to work or get a ride in a
carpool. Many people couldn't go into town to buy things. However,
they stuck together in order to make a statement.
The boycott continued for 381 days! Finally, the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that the segregation laws in Alabama were unconstitutional.
Just because the laws were changed, things didn't get any
easier for Rosa. She received many threats and feared
for her life. Many of the civil rights leader's houses
were bombed, including the home of Martin Luther
King Jr. In 1957 Rosa and Raymond moved to Detroit,
Michigan. Rosa continued to attend civil rights
meetings. She became a symbol to many AfricanAmericans of the fight for equal rights. She is still a
symbol of freedom and equality to many today.
 Rosa was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal as
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well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Rosa often worked as a seamstress when she needed a
job or to make some extra money.
You can visit the actual bus that Rosa Parks sat in at
the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan.
When she lived in Detroit, she worked as a secretary
for U.S. Representative John Conyers for many years.
She wrote an autobiography called Rosa Parks: My
Story in 1992.