Rosa Parks was an African American who was born
in the early 1900s in Alabama and was raised by her grandparents from a young
age. Montgomery, Alabama was a very segregated community at the time when she
was growing up. Everything was segregated. She was never around white people,
not because she did not want to be, but because she was not allowed. Her family
was black, her friends were black, her church was filled with only blacks, and
she went to school with black children. When she was thirsty and wanted a drink
of water, she could not even drink from water fountains that were marked “white”. She was forced to find a water fountain that
was marked “colored”. She never had the
opportunity to socialize with others outside of her race. Rosa was never very studious;
she tried to get her high school degree, but had to drop out. When she met her
husband Raymond, she was motivated to finish her schooling. She received her
high school diploma a year after their wedding. As a black person in the south,
Rosa always had to be careful around white people, especially members of the Ku
Klux Klan, because she never knew what they might do to her and her family.
Eventually Rosa had enough of segregation between white and black people in
Alabama, that she made the decision one day to lead a group of students to a
non-segregated train. Many Americans were upset about this but Rosa did not
care. She loved the possibility of everyone being treated equally, and she continued
to fight segregation. One cold winter morning, Rosa did something that would
change her life forever. On December 1, 1955, Rosa boarded a city bus. As the bus filed with white passengers, the
bus driver asked Rosa to give up her seat to a white passenger, and move to the
back of the bus, but she refused because she wanted to take a stand and make a
change. She was arrested but this day changed the world forever. African
Americans started boycotting buses after this event to try and change the laws.
The African American community did not ride buses for a total of 381 days. This
was when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregation laws in the state of Alabama
unconstitutional. After this ruling, Rosa’s life was changed as well. Things
were hard for her, but she changed the world for the better. Rosa died at the
age of 92 in 2005. For two days her casket was placed in the United States
Capitol for people to pay their respects. Rosa’s life still lives on, and she
is very influential still today. Rosa Parks is known as “The Mother of the
Modern- Day Civil Rights Movement” She was one of the nation’s most powerful
civil rights activists and she has changed our world for the better, and
forever.
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0bio-1
http://www.rosaparksfacts.com/rosa-parks-biography.php
This is definitely a very inspirational person to talk about for a social issue! The background of her life was a good way to start out the biography in case by some chance someone forgot who she was. This was probably something I needed to do in my post since my character is not as well known unless you are a soccer fan. You also did a good job at painting the picture of her life through her hard ships of both being a victim of the social issue and also a person who tries to fix the problem. I did not know that she is known as "The Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement". This also just goes to show how important she was in this movement.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you talked about this issue. I think you should of done this in her perspective to sort of think about what she was thinking. I liked how you series things in their order for clarity. Also only bringing up the big aspects of Rosa supported by little details like 381 day blacks boycotted the buses. I never knew that which shows how dedicated how Rosa and the others were for their rights. I noticed that you didnt have a picture up I was just think about what image you could of used. However, I think she is a great person that we could use for our last project.
ReplyDeleteAnnie,
ReplyDeleteYou've included a lot of specific details about Park's life that help give us a more complete picture of her beyond the civil rights work that she is so well known for. I'm also glad that you've included some examples of her civil rights work other than her historic bus ride, which is often the only act that gets remembered in popular national history.
If your group decides to focus on Parks, you'll obviously want to provide an even more detailed account of her work during the civil right movement, as well as try to create an impression of her. Speeches, letters, and interviews would be some possible sources to help with that part. Good work!