Rosa Parks: The Mother of Civil Rights
Game Changer
The
Montgomery City Code required that all public transportation be segregated and
that bus drivers had the "powers of a police officer of the city while
driving the bus to enforce this code. While driving the bus the
driver had to make equal but separate accommodations for his white passengers
and black passengers. This was done by drawing a line or placing
a sign in the middle of the bus separating white passengers in the front of the
bus and African-American passengers in the back of the bus.When an
African-American passenger boarded the bus, they had to get on at the front to
pay their fare and then get off and re-board the bus at the back door. When the
seats in the front of the bus filled up and more white passengers got on, the
bus driver would move back the sign separating black and white passengers and,
if necessary, ask black passengers give up their
seat. When Rosa Parks was 37 she was working as a seamstress at
a Montgomery department store, she also worked as a housekeeper for a white
couple. On December 1, 1955 after working at Montgomery Department Store
Rosa boarded the Cleveland Street bus to go home. The bus was very crowded
so when the white section was full and a white male passenger boarded the
bus, Rosa was asked to give up her seat so the white male passenger could sit
down. When Rosa refused to give up her seat she was arrested for
violating the ordinance. On December 5th, 1955, the day of Rosa
Parks trial, the NAACP organized a protest of the busses and all black
people refused to ride the bus. This was a monumental moment
because it started the Montgomery Alabama Bus Boycott. Due to the
size and scope of, and loyalty to, boycott participation, the effort continued
for several months. The city of Montgomery had become an eyesore, with
dozens of public buses sitting idle, ultimately severely crippling finances for
its transit company. Once the boycott ended the busses were desegregated
and black people no longer had to ride in the back of the bus or give up their
seat for a white person. Rosa Parks did suffer financial hardship after
the boycott. She lost her job at Montgomery Store and her husband lost
his job. Rosa and her husband eventually left Montgomery, Alabama and
moved to Detroit, Michigan where Rosa made a new life for herself.
She worked as a secretary and receptionist in U.S. Representative John
Conyer's congressional office. She also served on the board of the Planned
Parenthood Federation of America. Rosa Parks later founded her
organization, Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development. The organization
runs "Pathways to Freedom" bus tours, introducing young people to
important civil rights and Underground Railroad sites throughout the
country. In 1992, Rosa published Rosa Parks: My Story,
an autobiography about her life in the Segregated south and in 1995, she published
Quiet
Strength
which includes her memoirs and focuses on the role that religious faith played
throughout her life. Rosa Parks passed away on October 24, 1992 and
leaves a legacy of civil rights activism. (Rosa Parks ,
"Newsmakers, Detroit: Gala, 2007, Biography in Context. Web 21 Jan. 2014)
Rosa Parks was and still is a
game changer!