«MOTHER OF THE CIVIL
RIGHTS MOVEMENT. »
ROSA PARKS
FOUGHT AGAINST
RACIAL
SEGREGATION
WITH MARTIN
LUTHER KING. SHE
WAS THE FIRST
FAMOUS WOMAN
IN AMERICA AND
THE SECOND
BLACK AMERICAN
PERSONALITY.
ROSA PARKS
BECAME FAMOUS
ON THE 1ST OF
DECEMBER, 1955 IN
MONTGOMERY
(ALABAMA) BY
REFUSING TO GIVE
HER SEAT TO A
WHITE PERSON IN
A BUS DRIVEN BY
JAMES F. BLAKE.
ROSA PARKS WAS
ARRESTED BY THE
POLICE, AND HAD TO
PAY A FINE OF $ 14 ON
THE 5TH OF
DECEMBER, WHICH IS
EQUIVALENT TO
ABOUT 11 €. TO
DEFEND HERSELF,
SHE ASKS HELP TO AN
UNKNOWN YOUNG
PASTOR OF 26 YEARS
OLD.
MARTIN LUTHER
KING, WITH THE
HELP OF RALPH
ABERNATHY,
LAUNCHES A
CAMPAIGN OF
PROTESTS AND
BOYCOTT DURING
381 DAYS. ON THE
13 OF NOVEMBER
1956, THE
SUPREME COURT
BREAKS THE
SEGREGATION
LAWS IN THE
BUS
AFTER THE DIVORCE OF HER
PARENTS, ROSA GREW UP IN
A FARM WITH HER MOTHER,
HER BROTHER SYLVESTER
AND HER GRANDPARENTS.
SHE RECEIVED A GOOD
EDUCATION AT HOME UNTIL
THE AGE OF 11 THEN SHE HAS
BEEN SENT TO THE
“INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR
GIRLS” FOUNDED BY WHITE
NORTHERN FAMILIES FOR
BLACK CHILDREN.
ROSA THEN BEGAN
HER STUDIES AT
“ALABAMA STATE
TEACHERS COLLEGE
FOR NEGROES”. BUT
SHE COULDN’T
CONTINUE BECAUSE
SHE HAD TO TAKE
CARE OF HER
GRANDMOTHER
AND HER MOTHER
WHO WAS ILL.
HER YOUTH WAS
MARKED BY THE
INDIGNITIES OF RACISM.
FOR EXAMPLE: PUBLIC
FOUNTAINS, THAT
WHERE RESERVED FOR
WHITE OR BLACK
PEOPLE. (SHE USED TO
SAY: "WHEN I WAS A
CHILD I THOUGHT THAT
THE WATER FROM THE
FOUNTAINS FOR THE
WHITE PEOPLE TASTED
BETTER THAN THEIRS.”)
THE SCHOOL BUSES WERE
FORBIDDEN TO BLACK
PEOPLE. (SHE USED TO SAY :
« I SAW THE BUSES PASSING
EVERY DAY BUT FOR ME IT
WAS LIKE THAT. WE HAD NO
CHOICE BUT TO ACCEPT
WHAT WAS OUR LIFES, A
VERY HARD DAILY. THE BUS
WAS ONE OF THE FIRST
ELEMENT WHICH MADE ME
REALIZED THAT THERE WAS
A BLACK WORLD AND A
WHITE WORLD. »
IN 1992, SHE MARRIED
RAYMOND PARKS,
AN ACTIVIST OF THE
CIVIL RIGHT CAUSE.
IN DECEMBER 1943,
PARKS BECAME A
MEMBER OF THE
MOVEMENT FOR
CIVIL RIGHT
(AMERICAN CIVIL
RIGHT MOVEMENT).
IN THE BUS IN MONTGOMERY,
THE FIRST FOUR ROWS WERE
RESERVED FOR WHITE PEOPLE.
BLACK PEOPLE, WHICH USED
TO REPRESENT THREE
QUARTERS OF USER, HAD TO
SIT IN THE BACK.
THEY COULD USE THE
CENTRAL AREA IF WHITE
PEOPLE DIDN’T NEED TO SIT
DOWN. OTHERWISE, THEY HAD
TO GIVE THERE SEAT AND GO
IN THE BACK. IF THERE WAS NO
ROOM IN THE BACK, BLACK
PEOPLE HAD TO PAY MORE
EXPENSIVE TO SIT IN THE
FRONT.
PARKS, DURING A RAINY DAY
IN 1943, MADE A PUBLIC
EXPERIMENT. THE BUS DRIVER
ASKED HER TO ENTER THE BUS
BY THE BACK DOORS BUT
PARKS ENTERED THE BUS BY
THE FRONT, AND SAT FOR A
MOMENT ON A SEAT
RESERVED FOR WHITE
PASSENGERS. FURIOUS, THE
BUS DRIVER ONLY GAVE HER
THE TIME TO GET OFF THE BUS
TO RESTART IT STRAIGHT
AWAY.
ROSA PARKS HAD TO WALK
MORE THAN 18KM IN THE
RAIN. ON THE 1ST OF
DECEMBER 1955, SHE HAD TO
DEAL WITH JAMES BLAKE, THE
SAME BUS DRIVER.
SHE RECEIVED
THE
PRESIDENTIAL
MEDAL OF
FREEDOM FROM
THE PRESIDENT
CLINTON AND
THE
CONGRESSIONAL
GOLD MEDAL.
THE END