Rosa Parks Biography free essay sample

Strength incorporates life skills which demonstrate dignity with pride, courage with perseverance and power with discipline in a comfortable environment of peace. † (Achievement, 2010) This quotation embodies Rosa Parks’s philosophy as a person. Rosa Parks is a great example of that philosophy because of what she did. On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks was coming home from a tiring day at work and was sitting on the bus. At that time the law was if a white person needed your seat, a coloured person would have to give up their seat for the white person. Mrs. Parks was tired of this way so she refused the bus drivers request and that small action made all the difference. Rosa’s actions lead to many more important historical actions, such as the first real protest that included Martin Luther King Jr. as spokesperson. Rosa Parks was the person who helped start â€Å"the beginning of the modern civil rights movement in the United States† (Achievement, 2010). We will write a custom essay sample on Rosa Parks Biography or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her parents were James McCauley and Leona McCauley. After her younger brother was born in 1915 they moved to Pine Level, Rosa was put into a rural school and at the age of 11 Rosa finished her education. Afterwards Rosa’s mother registered her into a private school for girls once Rosa completed that she went to Alabama State Teacher’s College High School. Unfortunately, Rosa couldn’t finish her Teacher’s College at that time because she had to care for her grandmother’s who had become ill. Her mother then became ill and she then continued to take care of her grandmother as well as her mother. In caring for her mother and grandmother she was unable to graduate with her class but eventually she got her diploma in 1934. Rosa Parks got married to Raymond Parks on December 18, 1932. Raymond was born on February 12, 1903 in Wedowee, Alabama, Randolph County. Raymond worked as a barber and supported Rosa Parks’ beliefs all the way. Rosa Parks worked as a seamstress, a job that involved sewing for long hours. She was also an activist to help free the â€Å"Scottsboro boys,†, ans together with Raymond she was an active member of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP’s) programs. Raymond was a secretary and youth leader and Rosa was a secretary. One day on December 1st Rosa Parks was coming home from a long day at work, at the age of 42, she was tired and just wanted to get home. She sat down on a seat on the bus, and then Rosa was asked to move for a white man, but she was tired of being treated unfairly she refused the white man’s request as well as the bus driver’s; which lead to her getting arrested. Her trial was later that day and she was found guilty but later that night she was bailed out from jail. The arrest of Rosa Parks triggered black people of Montgomery and sympathizers to organize in protest. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was appointed spokesperson for the Bus Boycott; a boycott of the city bus that lasted over a year. Also people had all sorts of different protests in the South and all over the US. Hundreds and thousands of people were in on the protest to demand equal rights for all people. All these actions lead to segregation on Montgomery buses finally being declared illegal by the United States Supreme Court on Nov. 13, 1956, and then the boycotters were able to return to the buses on Dec. 1, 1956. In 1957 Rosa moved to Michigan and became a helper for the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). After her husband’s death of cancer in 1977, Rosa co-founded with Ms. Elaine Eason Steele the Rosa and Raymond Institute for Self Development. This is where Rosa explained her love for children, â€Å"Children are my passion and I believe that everyone can make a difference in their own lives. Our young people are curious, eager to learn, and need the guidance of mentors who care about their development. After all, they are our future and we must someday depend on their leadership. We hope to encourage an environment of dignity, responsibility, and a commitment to treat others as we wish to be treated. † Rosa parks, 1987- Commemorating the establishment of the Rosa Raymond Parks Institute for self Development/ (Achievement, 2010). The Rosa and Raymond Institute for Self-Development is where young teenagers tour the country in a bus learning about the history of their country and civil rights. â€Å"Pathways to Freedom program, traces the underground railroad into the civil rights movement and beyond. Youth, ages 11 through 17, meet and talk with Mrs.Parks and other national leaders as they participate in educational and historical research throughout the world. They travel primarily by bus as â€Å"freedom riders† did in the 1960’s, the theme: