Rosa Parks 🚌

The first time I heard about Rosa Parks, I was very impressed, and I loved her epic response -"Nah"- for not wanting to get up from her place. I could understand the exhaustion she felt about being discriminated against and having to sit at the last seat on the bus just because of her skin color.

One day Rosa Parks got on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The designated seats for African Americans were in the back row, and whites were in the front. That day Rosa sat in the front and refused to move. They put her in jail and even lost her job for doing that. I think she can probably ask herself? Was it worth it? 

Perhaps in that time where races were segregated, not everyone could be so brave to face the law, but she was destined for something greater. Her actions were an inspiration for the black community. This is how The Montgomery Bus Boycott started and led by one of the most iconic civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King. 

This protest lasted one year, from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956, and ended until the court ordered that the segregation of buses was unconstitutional. I can imagine her waking up one day and saying something like: "Enough is enough, I will not allow myself to be looked down upon again." And boy did that courage turn her into a symbol of justice for those who needed light of hope.

 One of the phrases that I like about her is: "You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right." It has inspired me to make difficult decisions in my life, especially when I have to choose between doing the right thing or what is the easiest thing to do.

 Another face of Rosa Parks that not everyone knows about; was her work before and the Montgomery Boycott. She worked in criminal justice and its application as an investigator. “One part of this was protecting black men from false accusations and lynchings; the other was ensuring that black people who had been sexually assaulted by white people could get their day in court. This particular issue was close to Parks’ heart as in 1931 a white male neighbor had attempted to assault her.”

"Over the next half-century, Parks became a nationally recognized symbol of dignity and strength in the struggle to end entrenched
Parks, while shying from the spotlight throughout her life, remained an esteemed figure in the history of American civil rights activism. In 1999, the U.S. Congress awarded her its highest honor, the Congressional Gold Medal."

On October 24, 2005, Parks at the age of 92 left this world, left a legacy and a better place for future generations. I would like to end this blog with one of her powerful quotes: “People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically ... No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in. I was a person with dignity and self-respect, and I should not set my sights lower than anybody else just because I was black.”

Works Cited

Editors, Biography.com. “Rosa Parks.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 23 June 2020, www.biography.com/activist/rosa-parks.