Rosa Parks was a modest
seamstress on her way home from work when she refused to
give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. That
single act of defiance on December 1st 1955 is remembered as
the start of the civil rights movement and she is
respectfully remembered as the mother of the civil rights
movement.
Although many had refused to comply with
segregation laws before, Mrs. Parks' humility and strength
of character made her an ideal candidate for the NAACP and
Women's Rights Movement to rally behind and organize a
boycott in protest of her arrest and trial. The boycott
lasted 381 days, forcing the government to overturn
segregation laws and also launched a then little known
preacher and activist, Martin Luther King Jr.
Mrs. Parks'
accomplishments leading up to her
fateful bus ride, included receiving her
high school diploma later in life, and
registering to vote, both rare and major
accomplishments for African-American
women of her day. After she was thrust
into the spotlight, Rosa Parks continued
her commitment to civil rights by
attending marches, co-founding the Rosa
and Raymond Parks Institute for Self
Development and publishing and speaking
about her perseverance.