Rosa Parks would be 101 years old today.
Rosa Parks, civil rights icon and reluctant mainstay in hip hop culture, became a prominent figure in history when she refused to abide by segregation laws and move to the back of the bus.
According to the tall tales the public school system tells, Ms. Parks refused to move because she was tired after a long day of work as a seamstress. Her civil disobedience became a criminal act when her defiance in the face of segregation resulted in her arrest. The seemingly spontaneous act of courage–a refusal to move, in perhaps one of the best known “occupy” movements–triggered the bus boycott.
Many began to call her “the mother of the civil rights movement” after that–and the title is one that she rightfully earned.
Few know that Ms. Parks’ actions that day were not an isolated incident, but instead the culmination of careful planning and strategizing amongst herself and other black leaders. Ms. Parks was a veteran activist and part of a local movement that had sought to launch a public campaign against bus segregation.
“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, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day… No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
-Rosa Parks
After her arrest, community leaders quickly mobilized and channeled the public outrage into an action plan, organizing a bus boycott that lasted for 381 days. The boycott leaders formed a new group–the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA)–and elected a 26 year old minister as president.
His name was Martin Luther King, Jr.
Nearly every single black bus rider in the city participated in the boycott, despite being threatened with job loss and other economic hardships. The MIA orchestrated its own “private taxi” system and carpooled those who lived too far away to walk to work.
The real Rosa Parks, who spent her entire life engaged in the civil rights movement, is far more captivating than the Rosa Parks of legends, defined by a single moment.
Here’s to a lifetime–a series of moments, spanning generations–that was well spent.
Happy birthday, Rosa Parks!
April Dawn (@scarlettsinatra)
4 Comments
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