Gourt > Society > History > By Region > North America > United States > People > Parks, Rosa
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4 1913 – October 24 2005) was an African American seamstress and civil rights activist whom the U.S. Congress dubbed the "Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement".
Parks is famous for her refusal on December 1, 1955 to obey bus driver James Blake's demand that she give up her seat to a white passenger. Her subsequent arrest and trial for this act of civil disobedience triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott, one of the largest and most successful mass movements against racial segregation in history, and launched Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the organizers of the boycott, to the forefront of the civil rights movement. Her role in American history earned her an iconic status in American culture, and her actions have left an enduring legacy for civil rights movements around the world.
Early years
Rosa Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama on February 4, 1913 to James and Leona McCauley, a carpenter and a teacher. Small even as a child, she suffered poor health and had chronic tonsillitis. When her parents separated, she moved with her mother to Pine Level, Alabama, just outside Montgomery. There she grew up on a farm with her maternal grandparents, mother, and younger brother Sylvester, and began her lifelong membership in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Her mother Leona homeschooled Rosa until she was eleven, when she enrolled in the Industrial School for Girls in Montgomery, where her aunt lived, and took academic and some vocational courses. Parks then went on to a laboratory school set up by the Alabama State Teachers College for Negroes for secondary education, but was forced to drop out to care for her grandmother, and later for her mother, after she too grew ill. More on [ Rosa Parks ]
Parks, Rosa :: Civil Rights Leaders
History :: African American
Civil Rights Movement :: United States
standing on a bus sucks.. rosa parks much?!
Ninja_Nanna (Brianna Alvarez) Sun, 27 Dec 2009 23:20:07 -0000
standing on a bus sucks.. rosa parks much?!
On Rosa Parks "That's the southern Negro spiritual harmonica!!" #HipHopMama
SunshineDBaby (Dominique M) Sun, 27 Dec 2009 22:53:49 -0000
On Rosa Parks "That's the southern Negro spiritual harmonica!!" #HipHopMama
I favorited a YouTube video -- Outkast - Rosa Parks http://youtu.be/7Z3niFJugp8?a
notoriousdre (Dre) Sun, 27 Dec 2009 22:52:07 -0000
I favorited a YouTube video -- Outkast - Rosa Parks http://youtu.be/7Z3niFJugp8?a
WON - Rosa Parks
20QPeople (20Q) Sun, 27 Dec 2009 22:19:46 -0000
WON - Rosa Parks
@ShesRude That Beat Was So Unique. I LOVE THAT ONE. #NowPlaying: Outkast - Toilet Tisha #NowPlaying: Outkast - Rosa Parks
MrLandualet (Mr. Hakeem) Sun, 27 Dec 2009 21:23:38 -0000
@ShesRude That Beat Was So Unique. I LOVE THAT ONE. #NowPlaying: Outkast - Toilet Tisha #NowPlaying: Outkast - Rosa Parks
RT @sarah_y: The Macs and PCs are distinctly segregated in this section of the library. Am tempted to Rosa Parks-it over to the PC side.
Pinche_Rooster (Ricky Ross Camacho) Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:45:27 -0000
RT @sarah_y: The Macs and PCs are distinctly segregated in this section of the library. Am tempted to Rosa Parks-it over to the PC side.
Academy of Achievement: Rosa Parks - Biography and 1995 interview with audio and video.
BBC News: US civil rights icon Parks dies - BBC tribute to Rosa Parks including archive footage, photos, and link to an obituary.
Meta Description: [ Rosa Parks, whose 1955 protest action marked the start of the modern US civil rights movement, dies at 92. ]
CBS News: What Rosa Parks Gave America - Obituary and tribute by John Nichols. Includes video footage.
Meta Description: [ The Nation says it was necessary and right to award the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor to Rosa Parks for her refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus to a white passenger. ]
Cincinnati Enquirer: Rosa Parks Argues vs. Rap - Article by Dan Horn about the arguments made before the U.S. Court of Appeals.
CNN: Rosa Parks Honored with Congressional Gold Medal - Article and video coverage of the event with links.
Colored Reflections: The Fifties, Rosa Parks - An interactive history site with a brief profile and student tributes.
Meta Description: [ Come visit Colored Reflections, an interactive history site that embraces the thoughts and experiences of people of all colors. Contribute your own reflections on people and events from the past to the present. ]
Detroit Free Press: Klan Road Named for Rosa Parks - Missouri lawmakers to name a section of highway for Parks after the Ku Klux Klan adopted it for cleanup.
Detroit Free Press: Tributes to Rosa Parks Hard to Find in Montgomery - An article by Amy Frazier.
Detroit News: Rosa Parks Asks Court to Reinstate Lawsuit Against Rappers - Parks accuses the rap group OutKast of misusing her name in a song.
Detroit News: Rosa Parks, African Queen Discuss Exchange Program - Parks met with Swaziland Queen Sibonelo Mbikiza to discuss a student exchange program between Africa and Park's Pathways to Freedom program.
Grand Times: The Woman Who Changed a Nation - Biographical article based on 1996 interview with Parks.
MTV: Johnnie Cochran To Represent Rosa Parks In Outkast Appeal - Parks hires Cochran to represent her.
Meta Description: [ MTV News is your source for the latest Music, Movies and Entertainment News and Information. Find Artist Photos, Exclusive Interviews and Features. ]
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Press Release: House Passes Carson Bill - Legislation introduced by Rep. Julia Carson, D-Ind., to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Rosa Parks passes by a vote of 424 to 1.
Meta Description: [ Home page of the United States House of Representatives ]
Rosa Parks and the Bus Boycott - Tells the story of Parks' arrest on the 1st of December, 1955, for not standing and letting a white bus rider take her seat.
Rosa Parks Biography - The life of Rosa Parks, the famous civil rights leader. Written by Shawn Landden and Chris Bowen.
Meta Description: [ A lengthly Rosa Parks Biography by 2 6th grade kids in Washington State. ]
Scholastic: Rosa Parks: How I Fought for Civil Rights - An online activity for grades 7 and 8 about Parks' arrest, the boycott, nonviolence, and the court ruling, with an interview.
Meta Description: [ This content resource is part of the Rosa Parks series. This site is the index page for the series and several links are provided taking students to sites about Rosa Parks' experience, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the Civil Rights Movement. Students read an interview with Rosa Parks and use an... ]
State News: Parks Recognized for Role in Struggle - Michigan, Parks' home state, designates the first Monday after February 4 as Mrs. Rosa L. Parks Day.
Time 100: Heroes and Icons: Rosa Parks - Article by Rita Dove honoring Ms. Parks as one of the twenty most influential heroes and icons of the 20th century.
Meta Description: [ Her simple act of protest galvanized America's civil rights revolution ]
Troy University: Rosa Parks Library and Museum - Biography, Montgomery Bus Boycott, and photographs.
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