Biography of Rosa Louise McCauley

Rosa Louise McCauley was born on February 4th, 1913 to James and Leona McCauley. She was born in Tuskegee, Alabama and later moved to Montgomery, Alabama where she attended school. Parks attended the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls, a private school where she paid her tuition from cleaning the classrooms. After that she attended high school to further her education, but was forced to leave so she could take care of her mother who had become ill. After she married her husband Raymond Parks in 1932, Parks returned to school to receive her high school diploma in the year of 1934. Parks also volunteered for an organization known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). This organization fought for the equal rights of African Americans. Many know of Parks as the African American who refused to give up her seat to a white man on the Montgomery City Bus in the year 1955, leading to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Parks once stated, “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not physically tired, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me being old. I was forty- two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in” (Parks). She continued to refuse to move from her seat on the bus, even after the driver of the bus repeatedly told Parks he was going to call the police to have her arrested if she didn’t move. She stated, “Arrest me for sitting on a bus? You may do that” (Parks). As soon as the police arrived, she was arrested for standing up for herself by refusing to move out of her seat on the bus. Parks was fined $10.00 plus $4.00 in court fees, and was given a date to ap...

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... in her memory. President Obama once said, “Our nation was forever transformed by her refusal to give up her seat, advancing our journey toward justice and equality for all” (Obama). Parks was a brave, courageous woman who wanted to make a difference for herself and many other African Americans who suffered from segregation laws. She once stated, “I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up, and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom” (Parks). Rosa Parks was successful in her attempts to make the world a better place. She fought against all odds to fight for the rights of African Americans. “Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully we shall overcome” (Parks). Rosa Parks will forever be remembered as the mother of the Civil Rights Movement.