As rock ‘n’ roll continued to fascinate children and infuriate their parents, tremors could be felt all across the United States. But an even more significant change was on the horizon in Montgomery, Alabama, when an African-American lady named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus to a white passenger.
This event is known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Her demonstration was the spark that started the civil rights movement in the United States, which in turn permanently altered our nation. Walk On: The Story of Rosa Parks illustrates how an individual’s dedication may make a difference in the pursuit of freedom and equality for all via the use of song and theatre. In order to better prepare you for the performance, we have compiled a list of ten intriguing facts about Rosa Parks.
Who Exactly Was Rosa Parks?
The daring act that Rosa Parks performed on December 1, 1955, when she refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, to a white passenger earned her the titles of “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom struggle.”
It was her act of disobedience, together with the subsequent boycott of public transportation, that became an important emblem of the American Civil Rights Movement. She collaborated with Martin Luther King Jr., who was the newly appointed minister in the community, as well as Edgar Nixon, who was head of the local NAACP chapter.
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Ten Shocking Facts About Rosa Parks
10. Earned High School Diplomas
She graduated from high school at a period when fewer than 7% of African Americans were achieving that milestone in their educational pursuits. Parks did not finish high school because she had to help take care of her dying grandmother when she was only 16 years old; nevertheless, at the insistence of her husband, she did so when she was 19 years old. In 1933, she graduated high school with her diploma.
9. NAACP Secretary
In 1943, she joined the NAACP in Montgomery and got involved in the struggle. As time went on, she became its secretary. Parks would travel over Alabama in her role as NAACP secretary, meeting with people who had experienced discrimination or seen lynching’s. She filed reports on these incidents and gave her NAACP colleagues access to first-person experiences.
8. The Bus Driver Had Harassed Her
In 1943, Parks rode with James Blake, the bus’s driver. After informing her that she could pay her fare at the rear of the bus, he promptly drove off. Though Parks avoided Blake at all costs, it was her taxi driver on December 1 that year who reported her to authorities.
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7. The Montgomery Bus Boycott Lasted for 381 Days
People were urged to take public transportation, rideshares, or walk to work on the day of the trial in protest of Parks’ detention. This sparked the Montgomery bus boycott, which lasted for a total of 381 days. The Supreme Court agreed, ruling that racial segregation on public transportation violates the Constitution.
6. Parks Suffered the Loss of Their Jobs and Threats of Murder
Despite being assured that her dismissal from her job as a department store seamstress was unrelated to the boycott, Parks was dismissed after her arrest. She was also the target of several phone calls and threats of violence. Parks, her husband, and her mother relocated to Detroit in 1957.
5. Was She Too Fatigued to Move?
Reports claimed that Parks stayed in her seat because she was too fatigued to move. However, in her autobiography, Parks strongly refuted this claim.
In her memoirs, Parks explains that she was not physically exhausted. Instead, she said “I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was 42. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
4. Multi Ancestry
Her mother worked in education, and her father worked as a carpenter. Rosa Parks was named after her mother. African, Scotch-Irish, and Native American origins were all found in her family tree.
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3. Inspiration for Others
On October 24, 2005, Parks passed away. However, throughout her entire life, her refusal to give up her seat helped promote the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. This was largely due to the fact that she was an inspiration to many others who were also fighting for the rights of African-Americans.
2. National Statuary Hall Display
In 2013, Rosa Parks made history by being the first person of African American descent and the first woman of any race to have her picture enshrined in National Statuary Hall. On the day of Rosa Parks’ funeral, President George W. Bush issued a proclamation ordering that all flags on public property in the United States to be flown at half-staff in honour of Parks.
1. Not the First to Refuse to Give Up Her Seat
Claudette Colvin, then 15 years old, was jailed in March 1955 after refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus, nine months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Aurelia Browder, Mary Louise Smith, and Susie McDonald all fought against Alabama’s bus segregation laws before her.