Paradoxically, Rosa Parks took a stand by sitting down. On December 1, 1955, the 42-year-old seamstress was commuting residence from her job at Montgomery Truthful division retailer on the Cleveland Avenue bus in Montgomery, Alabama, when the bus driver James Blake instructed her to maneuver to the again of the bus so {that a} white individual may take her seat.
Technically, Parks wasn’t sitting in the first 10 rows, which had been reserved for whites. However because the bus bought crowded, the motive force had expanded the part for whites and requested everybody in Parks’ row to maneuver again.
The opposite three African People obliged, however Parks sat nonetheless. That defiance landed her in jail — but in addition set her on a trajectory as some of the influential civil rights activists in American historical past.
Although she was launched on bail that very same evening, the African American group bonded collectively to remain off busses on December 5, 1955, the day of Parks’ trial, as a present of solidarity — and so they continued to remain off busses for 381 days, which got here to be often known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
The influence was felt by the group — and the bus system. And on November 13, 1956, the Supreme Courtroom declared that segregation on public transportation was unconstitutional.
However Parks’ combat didn’t finish there. Whereas she suffered both financial and health hardships within the years following the boycott and moved to Detroit, she nonetheless fought for equality. She labored for African American Congressman John Conyers and even bought Martin Luther King Jr. — who Parks had labored with throughout the boycotts — to come back to Detroit to endorse Conyers.
She recounted her life in a 1992 autobiography, Rosa Parks: My Story, and adopted it up with one other memoir, Quiet Power, in 1995. A 12 months after that, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom after which the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997.
Whereas she died at 92 on October 24, 2005, her legacy as some of the influential African American girls of our time stays. Listed here are 16 of her most memorable quotes:
On the bus: “I’d see the bus pass every day. But to me, that was a way of life; we had no choice but to accept what was the custom. The bus was among the first ways I realized there was a black world and a white world.”
On why she stayed in her seat: “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically … No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
On taking a stand: “Stand for something or you will fall for anything. Today’s mighty oak is yesterday’s nut that held its ground.”
On the boycott: “During the Montgomery bus boycott, we came together and remained unified for 381 days. It has never been done again. The Montgomery boycott became the model for human rights throughout the world.”
On racial violence: “Our freedom is threatened every time one of our young people is killed by another child… every time a person gets stopped and beaten by the police because of the color of their skin.”
READ MORE: Timeline of Rosa Parks’ Life, Montgomery Bus Boycott and Death
On therapeutic: “Have you ever been hurt and the place tries to heal a bit, and you just pull the scar off of it over and over again.”
On find out how to dwell: “It is better to teach or live equality and love … than to have hatred and prejudice.”
On braveness: “We must have courage — determination — to go on with the task of becoming free — not only for ourselves, but for the nation and the world — cooperate with each other. Have faith in God and ourselves.”
On conquering worry: “I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”
On taking a step: “There were times when it would have been easy to fall apart or to go in the opposite direction, but somehow I felt that if I took one more step, someone would come along to join me.”
On freedom: “I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.”
READ MORE: Rosa Parks’ Life After the Montgomery Bus Boycott
On racism: “Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome.”
On life and demise: “Life is to be lived to its fullest so that death is just another chapter. Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.”
On setting an instance: “Each person must live their life as a model for others.”
On optimism: “I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism and hope and looking forward to a better day, but I don’t think there is any such thing as complete happiness.”
On her legacy: “I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free … so other people would be also free.”
BouncingBelly
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