The life of Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks was an African American woman, who was involved in the civil rights movement. Often referred to as 'the freedom movement's mother', she played a key role in the elimination of racial segregation in the USA.

Born in 1913, she married a man named Raymond Parks at the age of 19. Raymond had been a member of the NAACP for many years, and he who first inspired his wife to take a stand against racial injustices, by joining this organisation.

As a history fanatic, Tunde Folawiyo might be aware that in 1943, Parks became the chapter secretary in the NAACP's Montgomery branch. During her first few years there, she worked closely with a railroad porter named Edgar D. Nixon, the branch's president, who at that point was focusing on establishing voting rights for African Americans.

Most people, including Tunde Folawiyo, will probably know that the 1st of December 1955 was an enormously significant date in Parks' life. It was on this day that she committed an act of defiance which would forever cement her place in history books; she disobeyed the orders of a local bus driver, who had insisted that she give up her seat in the African-American section, for a white person, as the other section was full. Whilst her refusal led to her arrest, the incident ended up playing an important part in the civil rights movement, as it inspired Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to establish the Montgomery Improvement Association.

This association launched a boycott of all transportation provided by the company that operated that particular bus. This boycott went on for 55 weeks, and garnered international attention. Only when the Supreme Court finally banned all forms of racial segregation on public transport, did the association end its protest.

Two years after the bus incident, Parks moved to Michigan with her husband; here, she became a member of staff for John Conyers, a US representative. After her retirement many years later, she continued to offer her support to a variety of civil-rights causes and events. She also wrote her autobiography, which she entitled 'Rosa Parks: My Story'. Over the course of her lifetime, she received many awards and honours, in recognition of her tireless efforts to eliminate racism; two of the most prestigious were the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which she was given in 1996, and the Congressional Gold Medal, which she received in 1999.

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