Rosa Parks
By: Will Heye - 7th period
"The First Lady of the Civil Rights"
Rosa Parks is one of the most famous rebels in American history. A small African American woman, she sparked the civil rights' movement by refusing to move seats on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. African Americans everywhere boycotted the bus and this movement spread all across the South. The 1960's were a very rough time for African Americans because of segregation and they found hope in Rosa Parks.
The Boycott Starts
African Americans hold up signs and yell at a Montgomery bus because of the Rosa Parks incident.
The One and Only
A picture of Rosa Parks with Martin Luther King Jr.
Because of Rosa Parks...
Rosa Parks' arrest brings life to the segregated African Americans. They find peaceful ways to fight back, like walking to work instead of riding the bus.
ROSA PARKS (MOTHER OF CIVIL RIGHTS)
Rosa Parks' Civil Disobediance is One of a Kind
Rosa Parks is one who displayed civil disobedience by standing up for what she believed in, by not standing up. She was tired of the oppression she faced from the government and society in general and she had had enough. Her actions relate very closely to Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" which is where he states, "A wise man will not but leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority." Thoreau means that the smart man or woman will do something to fix the problem instead of relying on society to help. Rosa Parks took matters into her own hands and resisted by herself, which then brought others to do the same. Thoreau then goes on to say, "...if one HONEST man, in the State of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from this co-partnership, and be locked up in the county jail therefor, it would be the abolition of slavery in America. For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once well done is done forever." Rosa Parks stood up for her race and culture and demanded respect, and after her arrest, many others were inspired to do the same. The Civil Rights movement started off small, but grew tremendously. Rosa Parks' civil disobedience is one that is rare to find nowadays. She and Thoreau both have taught people to stand up for what they believe in.