As one of the most prominent figures in the American Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks’ unwavering determination and pivotal role in challenging racial segregation has solidified her place in history. Her courageous act of defiance on a Montgomery bus in 1955 continues to inspire and educate people worldwide about the importance of equality and social justice. Let’s reflect on some key Rosa Parks facts that highlight her remarkable life and contributions.
She came from a family of strong advocates for racial equality. She even witnessed her father standing outside with a shotgun as the Ku Klux Klan marched by.
Rosa Parks earned her diploma in 1933 when less than 7% of African Americans graduated from high school. She had dropped out to care for her dying grandmother, but after getting married, her husband encouraged her to return and finish school.
Rosa Parks was the secretary of the NAACP in Montgomery, Alabama.
This required Parks to travel throughout Alabama, interviewing victims of discrimination and those who had witnessed lynchings. The NAACP selected her for the role in 1943.
Rosa Parks had a history with the bus driver who had her arrested.
Parks had avoided bus driver James Blake since 1943 when he’d driven off without letting her pay her fare. She had been actively avoiding him but didn’t notice him that day. “If I had been paying attention,” she said, “I wouldn’t even have gotten on that bus.”
Rosa Parks helped organize a boycott of the Montgomery bus system.
On the day of Parks’ trial, people protested by skipping the bus. Instead, they walked and found other ways to get to work. This inspired the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted for 381 days. In the end, the Supreme Court declared segregation on public transit unconstitutional.
On February 22, 1956, 114 protesters, including Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., were arrested for challenging bus segregation laws. The high-profile arrest put a media spotlight on the boycott, which ultimately helped the movement.
Parks worked as a seamstress at the Montgomery Fair department store but was fired after her arrest. Her employers claimed, however, that it was not because of the boycott. Her husband lost his job as well.
Rosa Parks remained involved in activism throughout her life.
Parks participated in the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and the Selma-to-Montgomery March, and she worked in Congressman John Conyers’ district office and even served on the board of Planned Parenthood.
Rosa Parks was awarded the Spingarn Medal in 1979. As described when this award was founded, this honor is “the man or woman of African descent and American citizenship who shall have made the highest achievement during the preceding year or years in any honorable field.”
Parks co-authored Rosa Parks: My Story, Quiet Strength: The Faith, the Hope, the Heart of a Woman Who Changed a Nation, and Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue With Today’s Youth.
Rosa Parks filed a lawsuit against hip-hop duo Outkast.
After Outkast released a song titled “Rosa Parks,” Parks argued defamation and false advertising. The 1998 track included the lyrics “Ah-ha, hush that fuss. Everybody move to the back of the bus.” Outkast defended themselves citing the First Amendment. The case was settled seven years later when the group agreed to help create educational programs for youth with the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute.
Rosa Parks was the first woman to lie in honor in the nation’s Capitol Rotunda.
Following her death on October 24, 2005, in Detroit, Michigan, Rosa Parks lie in honor in the Rotunda of the Capitol. She was the first woman and only the second person of color to receive that honor.