Rosa Parks Research Paper

Rosa Louise Parks, an African American, was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama to James and Leona McCauley. In her early years, Rosa Parks faced many challenges and struggles due to the color of her skin. She was born during the time where African American people were subject to unequal treatment and was affected by the Jim Crow laws of segregation with white and black people. The segregation included drinking from the water fountain, using the bathrooms, transportation, and education for whites and blacks. Due to segregation, Rosa dedicated her life to making a change for all people of color, and in 1955 she made history by refusing to give her seat on the bus to a white individual. According to Brinkley (2000), “Rosa Parks courageous

Martin Luther King Jr. and is now considered the beginning of the American civil rights movement”.

Rosa Parks, young women with integrity humility was tired of African American being mistreated decided to be fearless and bold to make a difference. According to Brinkley (2000), “Rosa Parks believes that the strength of her ancestors and their dignity allowed her to be fearless in her actions”. However, exploring Rosa’s physical, cognitive, social-emotional, moral development and cultural diversity through development theories, will give a better understanding of her courage and determination to make a difference in African American culture.

Physical Development

During physical development, every child grows and changes throughout their childhood lives. In the physical development area, children bodies mature, they start strengthening their muscles, the ability to use and control their bodies; control their gross and motor skills (jumping, throwing,

According to Malti & Noam (2016), “Social-emotional development entails various dimensions of children’s and adolescent’s social- emotional development and is widely recognized by researchers to be the core of human development and growth”. However, Rosa Parks experience several social-emotional challenges throughout her child and adult life.

Leona McCauley and her parents were viewed as being an authoritative parent (high acceptance, and involvement), who was warm attentive and sensitive to her children’s needs. After, moving in with James McCauley’s family and finding it difficult to raise Rosa in an overcrowded setting. Leona decided to move to Pine Level with her family (both played an important part in her life), her father disappeared, and Rosa didn’t see him until she was five years old and her brother (Sylvester) was three. According to Brinkley (2000), “Rosa recalled that her father stayed for several days and left again which she didn’t see him again until she was an adult and married. Growing up without her father around, Rosa relied on her mother for love and warmth as well as being partly raised by her grandparents. According to Kuria & Bohlander (2014), “Starting from birth, infants begin learning how to make sense of their world through interactions with caregivers”. However,