59. Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement
Rosa Parks is a prime example of how
ordinary American can change the world around her.
was born in 1913, in the southern state
Alabama. Parks became famous for challenging a discriminatory
in the city of Montgomery, Alabama. During the
, Black Americans in the south were not allowed
ride in the front seats of public buses
a white person needed that seat. Blacks were
to get out of their seats, and go
the back of the bus, which was designated
"Colored Only."
On December 1, 1955, Parks refused
obey the bus drivers order to surrender her
to a white passenger who had boarded the
. Even though Parks was seated in the Colored
section, the bus was filled, and she was
by law to give her seat to the
rider. Parks was arrested, and charged with civil
. She later said she had grown "tired of
in."
Her arrest and subsequent trial made Parks
national symbol for the Civil Rights Movement. Her
also lead to the Montgomery Bus Boycott that
a political and social protest campaign against racial
. Although the boycott only lasted 21 days, it
instrumental in the Supreme Court decision to declare
's practice of segregation unconstitutional.
Parks has remained a
for the Civil Rights Movement even after her
in 2005 at the age of 92. She
been called the "First Lady of Civil Rights,"
the United States Congress, and "The Mother of
Freedom Movement." She has been honored by the
.S. Government with prestigious awards such as the Presidential
of Freedom, and Congressional Gold Medal. She has
honored with her own museum in Michigan, and
received several other civil rights awards both before
after her death.
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