19 13, Rosa parks was born in Rosa Luis Mackley's home in Taskey, Alabama. She went to a local school at the age of 1 1 and was sent to Montgomery. In order to take care of her sick grandmother, she dropped out of high school, and then she took care of her mother. She didn't finish high school until she was 2 1 year old. 1932, she married the barber and civil rights activist Raymond Parks. After they got married, they all worked for the local American Association for the Development of Colored People. 1943, Mrs. Parks became an official of the organization and later became a leader of the organization. Rosa parks is a seamstress in Montgomery. She worked as a tailor at 1955 in the 1930s. Later, she became the representative of countless African-Americans seeking freedom.
In the 1950s, in many places in the southern United States, only whites could sit in the first few rows of city buses, while blacks generally sat in the back row, and both whites and blacks could sit in the middle. But when black people sit in the middle, black people must give up their seats to white people if they want to sit.
Rosa parks and three other blacks were sitting in the middle when a white man got on the bus and wanted a seat. The driver ordered all the blacks to leave their seats so that the whites didn't have to sit with them. Three black people stood up, but Mrs. Parks refused, so she was arrested. A story about it is that Mrs. Parks refused to let her sit down because her feet were so tired. But a few years later, she said it was wrong. She said what she was really tired of was accepting unequal treatment. She later explained that this seemed to be the place where she wanted to stop being pushed around and pursue her due human rights.
A black women's activity organization in Montgomery is the famous Women's Political Committee, which tries to oppose the unfair treatment of black people on the bus. Black people are often arrested or even killed for disobeying bus drivers' orders. Rosa parks is not the first black man who refuses to give up his seat to a white man, but the black organization in Montgomery thinks that she is a citizen with rights among the protesters because she is the best citizen in the city. Women's organizations immediately called on all black people in Montgomery to refuse to take the bus on the day Mrs. Parks was tried, that is, Monday, February 5, 65438. Therefore, on this day, 40,000 people walk or use other means of transportation. That night, the whole city held a rally, and the blacks in Montgomery agreed to continue to boycott taking the city bus until their unequal treatment ended. They also asked city officials to hire black drivers, so that anyone can sit in the middle of the bus without giving up his seat to others.
Montgomery boycotted buses for 38 1 day, led by local black leader Nixon and young black minister Martin Luther king. Similar protests have also appeared in other southern cities. Finally, the US Supreme Court ruled on Mrs Parks' case, ruling that racial segregation on city buses was illegal. This ruling was made in1956165438+10/3, almost one year after Mrs. Parks was arrested. Montgomery's bus boycott ended on the day when the ruling arrived, that is,1956 65438+February 20th. Rosa parks and Martin Luther King launched a non-violent protest movement in the southern United States, which changed the civil rights situation in the United States forever. Martin Luther King became a famous speaker of this movement, but he didn't see the results of his efforts, but Rosa parks did.
After boycotting taking the bus, life for Rosa parks and her family became more and more difficult. She was fired and couldn't find a job, so the Parkers left Montgomery. They moved to Virginia and later to Detroit, Michigan. Mrs. Parks worked as a tailor until 1965. Later, Rep. John conyers of Michigan gave her a position-working in his congressional office in Detroit, and she worked until 1988 retired.
Throughout her life, Rosa parks worked for the National Association for the Development of Colored People (NAACP) and participated in various civil rights activities. She is a quiet woman, which seems out of proportion to her reputation. But she said that she wanted to help others, especially young people, to lead a better life for themselves and help others at the same time. 1987, she founded Rosa-Raymond Parks Self-development Association to help improve the living conditions of black children.
Rosa parks won two national highest honors for his outstanding contribution to the civil rights movement. 1996 President Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and 1999 was awarded the Gold Medal by Congress.
In her later years, people often asked Rosa parks how much racial relations had improved after the passage of the civil rights law in the 1960s. She believes that there is still a long way to go to eliminate racial barriers, and she is still concerned about the racial equality movement in the United States. Rosa parks died at the age of 92 on October 24th, 2005/KLOC-0. Her body is in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.. She is the first American woman to win this honor. More than 30 thousand people quietly bid farewell to her body to show their admiration for her. Congressman conyers talked about what this woman's calm power means to the United States. He said: "In the United States, only a few people dare to say that their actions have changed the image of the United States, and Rosa parks is one of them."