Rosa Parks, the Mother of Civil Rights

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Rosa Parks was an African American woman who was brave enough to stand up to the whites. Even though she went to jail for what she did, she believes she did the right thing. What Rosa had done on the bus started boycotts and created more and more activists. People wonder if Rosa Parks was raised to stand up for herself or if she was supposed to stay quiet. Looking at Rosa’s life and what happened on the bus and beyond, it can be concluded that she was taught to take pride in her race.
Rosa (McCauley) Parks was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her parents were James and Leona McCauley. She was homeschooled by her mother, who was a school teacher, until the age of eleven. At eleven, Rosa moved to Montgomery with her aunt, where she started going to a private school. Her childhood brought her early experiences with racial discrimination and activism for racial equality. After a few years at that school, Rosa transferred to Booker T. Washington High School, but had to drop out to help her ill mother. In 1932 Rosa got married to a man by the name of Raymond Parks and she had a delighted life until he died in 1977. During this time of her life, she worked as a seamstress in a Montgomery clothing store. Leaving work one night is when everything happened (Troy University).
Rosa Parks was 42 years old and waiting at the bus stop after work on December 1, 1955. Driving the bus that picked her up was James Blake. Rosa was sitting on the bus, just behind the ten seats that were only for white people. The bus started filling up with people and the whites needed more seats. The bus driver told Rosa and three other blacks to move to the back of the bus to make more room for the white folks. The three others moved, but Rosa refus...

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... guard down during tough times.

Works Cited

Academy of Achievement. 5 March 2014. 25 April 2014 .
Bredhoff, Stacy, Schamel Wynell and Lee Ann Potler. National Archives. 4 June 1999. 21 April 2014 .
Hare, Kenneth. IIP Digital. n.d. 12 May 2014 .
Montgomery Bus Boycott. 2014. 25 April 2014 .
Rogers, Kevin. WHP. n.d. 15 May 2014 .
Rosa Parks Facts. 1 July 2013. 12 May 2014 .
The Story Behind The Bus. 2002. 10 May 2014 .
Troy University . n.d. 21 April 2014 .

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