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Rosa Parks: The Montgomery Bus Boycott

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Rosa Parks
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Determined, hardworking, and committed are three words that people think of in connection with Rosa Parks. Many people know that Rosa Parks was a civil rights activist, but she was so much more. As a civil rights activist, Rosa Parks showed America that she deserved the same treatment as any white man or woman. She left a legacy as “the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”.
The early life of Rosa Parks was rough. According to Yona McDonough, author of Who Was Rosa Parks?, she grew up in Pine Level, Alabama, when segregation was at its peak. All of Parks’ friends and family were African American, and they worked long, hard hours as laborers in the shadows of white men and women. She attended …show more content…

On that day, she refused to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man. Parks was sitting in the front row of the colored section, and all of the seats in the white section were taken. According to the editors at History.com, she was one of four people that were told to move, but Mrs. Parks was the only one to refuse. Her act of resistance triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott (biography.com). Many people believe Rosa Parks didn’t move because she was tired after her long day of work, but this isn’t true. Parks admitted she was tired, but not physically. Grace Boggs and Alice Jennings states she was exhausted of her unfair racial treatment, and she knew that day was the day she would do something about it. Because of Parks’ courageous, yet harmless act, she was fined $10 and served a jail sentence (ushistory.com). In conclusion, she set a great example of standing up and following your …show more content…

The Southern Christian Church made an award in her honor called the Rosa Parks Freedom Award (britannica.com). Kathleen Kudlinski and Meryl Henderson also mentioned that she was given the Spingarn Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal. When she announced she was finished working with the NAACP, she received their highest award. In conclusion, Mrs. Parks was a very successful woman.
Rosa Parks received many other great recognitions in her lifetime as well. She became known as the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”. The U.S. Congress also began calling her the “First Lady of the Civil Rights” (Boggs, Jennings). Parks was the first woman in history to have a US Capitol ceremony after her death.
The legacy of Rosa Parks still lives on. From her standing up for what she believed in and never giving up on her dreams, she has impacted people all around the world. She not only helped make great strides in civil rights, but she also showed how one person could make a difference just by standing up for what was

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