ROSA PARKS: LINCHPIN FOR CHANGE - By: David Nalin

For those of us living in the modern world it is difficult to comprehend how the actions of one brave woman could have changed the course of history. Turn back the clock to December 1st, 1955 and we find that this is exactly the case for Rosa Parks. The bold move made by Ms. Parks in refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man set in motion a chain of events that lead to the Civil Rights Movement.

42 year old Rosa Parks was a seamstress for Montgomery Fair department store in Montgomery, Alabama. The rule of the day was segregation and this meant that blacks riding the bus were expected to give up their seats for white riders. She complied with the rules by paying her bus fare at the front of the bus, exiting and reentering the bus from the back. Rosa took her seat in the first row of the section reserved for the “coloreds.” Rosa Parks’ bus was particularly crowded that day. When the bus driver asked a group of blacks to move to make room for whites all but Rosa complied. For Rosa, this was not the day for that. She quietly but firmly refused.

What sounds like a simple act of protest was indeed not simple at all. In fact, it was an act that eventually led to the end of legally mandated segregation in the Southern United States. Indeed, Rosa Parks’ single minded action that day changed the course of history.

Refusing to comply with segregation laws was considered a criminal offense that was typically punishable by fine. The place of blacks on the bus was a particularly incendiary issue in the Montgomery at the time. Others had taken a similar stand but for a variety of reasons they had paid their fine and the incidents passed without notice. Rosa Parks, on the other hand, was the perfect candidate to fight the humiliating policy. With the help of the N.A.A.C.P. and representation by a young minister named Martin Luther King, Jr. Rosa Parks case became the linchpin for change.

As a result of Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat Rosa’s case was brought to trial. To voice their protest of the charges the local black community held a successful bus boycott. The trial was short and the charges and fine were upheld. As a result the Montgomery Improvement Association was formed with Dr. King as its President. Ultimately Rosa Parks took her case to the Supreme Court where the constitutionality of Montgomery’s segregation laws was overturned.

Ms. Rosa Parks’ role in changing the rule of law is still widely celebrated. She is honored for her courage in taking that brave stand on the bus. Her story continued long after that day, however, as she continued to work for the advancement of civil rights for the remainder of her life. While her celebrity made her life more difficult she never gave up the fight. After relocating first to Virginia and then to Detroit, she worked for U.S. Representative John Conyers until retirement. She died in 2005 at the age of 92.

For those of us living in the modern world it is difficult to comprehend how the actions of one brave woman could have changed the course of history. Turn back the clock to December 1st, 1955 and we find that this is exactly the case for Rosa Parks. The bold move made by Ms. Parks in refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man set in motion a chain of events that lead to the Civil Rights Movement.

For those of us living in the modern world it is difficult to comprehend how the action

Rosa Parks, named The Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement, was an African-American woman born in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1913. She is most well known for her stand against racial segregation on public buses in Montgomery, Alabama. Learn more about this extraordinary woman.