Who was Rosa Parks?

Rosa Park's Story

Rosa Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. The day was February 4, 1913. Her parents were James and Leona McCauley. Sadly, her father was working in a different town and her mother taught school in a faraway school. Her grandparents were the only ones that could raise her. Rosa Parks had one brother named Sylvester. She and her brother were often lonely.

At Rosa's time, everything was segregated. This means that black people and white people were in different schools. Also, in buses, white people sat in the front in the nicest seats. Unfortunately, black Americans had to sit in the back, which was dirty and not as nice and comfortable as the front.

When Rosa was six, she started school. Rosa stated that she remembers the days when she was walking to school, seeing the bus passing her, and just knowing that it was a way of life. Rosa eventually quit school when she was sixteen and went to work in a shirt factory. While doing this, she would also take care of her grandmother. To make more money, she would work part-time as a seamstress.

One day, Rosa went on a bus to go home. She sat where a white person would usually sit and stay. When a white man came and told her to move, she refused. The bus driver yelled at Rosa to move to the back, but she still refused. Eventually, the bus driver called the police, and Rosa was arrested. But not all hope was gone for Rosa Parks.

Rosa was good friends with a man named Martin Luther King jr. When he heard that she had been arrested, he called for a boycott. A boycott is when a large group of people refuse to do or buy something. For this instance, all black Americans refused to ride on buses. This boycott lasted for more than a year, and then finally, the government agreed to let black Americans ride wherever they pleased. On the day of Rosa's trial, all black Americans did not ride buses. The court let her go but gave her a fine.

After a few years, the president of the United States Awarded Rosa one of the highest awards. When Rosa died, she was buried in the Capitol. Rosa will always be honored for what she did.

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