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An old woman dying in a small apartment surrounded by friends and family is an event not usually given a second thought by those not directly affected. But this woman was different: She changed the world.
After more than a decade of steadily declining health, Rosa Parks died on Oct. 24 of natural causes. She was 92 years old.
Known to many Americans as the mother of the civil rights movement, Parks risked her life rebelling against her status as a second-class African American citizen. On Dec. 1, 1955, the 42-year-old Parks refused to surrender her seat on a bus to a white man, disobeying a Jim Crow law that required African Americans to give up their front seats when whites wanted to sit down.
At that time, what she did was unacceptable, English teacher Gwendolyn Fuller said. This was not the first time she had been kicked off of the bus. She was tired of many things, and didnt want to stand up.
Courtesy of www.americaslibrary.gov
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Her refusal to stand on her bus ride home led to a 381-day boycott of the Montgomery bus system and eventually to the Supreme Courts decision to overturn the Jim Crow laws. Parks was essential to the beginning of many civil rights leaders careers, such as that of Martin Luther King, Jr. Her example continues to inspire todays youth.
She sparked the civil rights movement and helped get equality for everyone, sophomore Karrie Liu said. I admire her for that.
In Montgomery, Alabama, during the 1950s, most people didnt challenge segregation: Individuals who had attempted to were physically abused and often murdered. Parks was lucky that she did not suffer such a fate. She and her husband did receive numerous death threats, however. They were harassed by neighbors, employers and many others. Eventually, they lost their jobs and were forced to move to Detroit with Parks mother, Leona McCauley. Parks resumed work in Detroit as a seamstress until U.S. Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan hired her as an office aide. In 1988 she retired and continued to endorse civil rights efforts until prevented from doing so by bouts with dementia and memory loss.
Parks changed the course of American history with a single act of courage, instigating other actions leading to the Supreme Courts decision to overturn segregation. Many influential women, like talk show host Oprah Winfrey and secretary of state Condolezza Rice, were able to pursue their dreams thanks to Parks.
I probably wouldnt be where I am today had it not been for her, Fuller said.
After her death, Parks is continuing to make history. She was the first woman to lie in state, with her remains on public display in the Capitol Rotunda, a privilege previously reserved for white male presidents.
With her passing, she managed to bring political leaders from both sides of the aisle together, earning the praise of both democrats and republicans alike.
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