Rosa Parks

One day you're an unknown Negro seamstress in the segregated South. The next day, you're a legend whose very name evokes hope and change for the better in an America that lives up to her ideals.

DETROIT - Rosa Lee Parks, whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man sparked the modern civil rights movement, died Monday. She was 92.

Mrs. Parks died at her home of natural causes, said Karen Morgan, a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. John Conyers (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich.

Mrs. Parks was 42 when she committed an act of defiance in 1955 that was to change the course of American history and earn her the title "mother of the civil rights movement." [SNIP]

The Montgomery, Ala., seamstress, an active member of the local chapter of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was riding on a city bus Dec. 1, 1955, when a white man demanded her seat.

Mrs. Parks refused, despite rules requiring blacks to yield their seats to whites. Two black Montgomery women had been arrested earlier that year on the same charge, but Mrs. Parks was jailed. She also was fined $14.

Speaking in 1992, she said history too often maintains "that my feet were hurting and I didn't know why I refused to stand up when they told me. But the real reason of my not standing up was I felt that I had a right to be treated as any other passenger. We had endured that kind of treatment for too long."

Her arrest triggered a 381-day boycott of the bus system organized by a then little-known Baptist minister, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who later earned the Nobel Peace Prize for his work. [SNIP]

The movement culminated in the 1964 federal Civil Rights Act, which banned racial discrimination in public accommodations.

Amazing how small events can ripple out into meaningful change.

Rest in Peace, Mrs. Parks. You've definitely earned it.

Comments

[Albertanator]

What a great and brave lady...

Oh if only the current mainstream Black American leadership had more of her likes instead of the gruesome haters like Sharpton, Jackson, Maxine Waters, Spike Lee, McKinney , Conyers and other despicable figures!!

We need more Rosa's and Baldilocks and LaShawn Barbers and Star Parkers and Larry Elders and less scoundrals like Randall Robinson and Sheila Jacksons..

May Rosa Park's rest in peace...

[Peggy]

"Rest in Peace, Mrs. Parks. You've definitely earned it"

Amen.

Mrs. Parks and the children who first integrated the schools have always been special heroes and heroines for me.

[skinner]

YA-know ,his story always amazes me.... You here about southern hospitality good manners etc. I cant imagine this Ahole telling a woman to give up her seat because hes more important or better than She What was his Name? This defines the reality that was discrimination racism in the south better than anything you could ever dream up. I remember it well I was 3 kidding I was 8 growing up in california when I saw a news deal about blacks not being able to vote in the south I asked my dad Is that true? He said yea Youve got to be kidding me they have to pay taxes dont they ? Yes..... I was very naive but I became a quick learner I sure miss watching the news in the 60s with my DAD Maybe they need to rerun some of this old footage For this generation

[Evon]

May she rest in peace. I remember seeing TV footage of all those people walking rather than be second class citizens on the bus. She really started something.

[Dale P]

Mrs. Parks - thankyou. You did well. Such quiet persuasion always wins the day, ultimately. You stand for all that is good in mankind and I honor you for that. I pray that others will remember such quiet grace in the many fights for freedom and dignity in our world. RIP.

[Slartibartfast]

Thanks, Juliette. I heard a piece on NPR about Rosa Parks' death this morning, and was surprised it didn't get more play on blogs.

[langtry]

The sad thing is, among young black men and women, she was probably better known for being the subject of an Outkast song (regarding which she filed suit against the band) and a joke uttered by Cedric the Entertainer's character in "Barber Shop" (not that I think Cedric meant any harm). I can only hope that schools are still doing the civil rights education that was mandatory back in the 70's (when I was in grade school).

Rest in peace, Mrs. Parks. In my mind, you, Dr. King & the brave Little Rock students still set the standard for dignity.

[Iron Mike]

J--
Sonja and I were wondering just the other day whatever happened to the a$$hole who wanted her to get up and give him the seat! Why the hell don't we know his name?

[baldilocks]

Mike,

I don't know, but if he's anonymous, that seems just to me. He deserves to be forgotten by history.

[risa]

good looking site

[crystal robinson]

I think Rosa Parks was a brave and a Inspirational person to a lot of people.