Rosa
Louise McCauley was born in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1913. She later married Raymond
Parks. A barber and activist in National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People, an organization founded to improve the conditions for blacks
in the United States. In 1943, she was elected secretary of the Montgomery
branch of the N.A.A.C.P. That year she attempted to register and vote, even
though she did not succeed, she tried three more times. She finally won her
battle in 1945, and was allowed to become a registered voter. Foreshadowing
later events in her life, she had a run-in with the local bus driver when
she tried to ignore a rule that did not allow blacks to board the front of
the bus. In December of 1955, Parks was riding home from work on the Cleveland
Avenue bus line in Montgomery when she refused to give up her seat in the
front row of the "colored section" to a white man who could not
find a seat in the section reserved for whites. Her refusal to move to the
back of bus defied local ordinances and Alabama state statues requiring segregation
in public transportation. The driver of the bus called local police, and Parks
was arrested, jailed, and eventually convicted of violating segregation laws.
She was fined $10, plus $4 in court costs. The black community in Montgomery
was outraged by the incident and organized a short term bus boycott; it continued
for more than a year. Black community leaders formed an organization called
the Montgomery Improvement Association under the leadership of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. The M.I.A. suggested that blacks not to ride on segregated
buses and helped them find other means of transportation. In November 1956
a federal court ordered the Montgomery buses desegregated. In the end, the
bus boycott was viewed as a success. These events became fodder for the fire
of the Civil Rights Movement. Leaders at the time, King, Fred Abernathy, Bayard
Rustin, and Fred Shuttlesworth formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
She also remained active in the NAACP and other civil rights organizations,
until advancing age slowed her down. During her life, she received numerous
awards and tributes. Cleveland Avenue in the city of Montgomery has since
been renamed Rosa Parks Boulevard.
