Rosa Parks was a civil rights pioneer who refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. This sparked a 381-day bus boycott led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that challenged segregation in public transportation. Eventually the US Supreme Court ruled that segregation laws in Alabama were unconstitutional. However, Rosa continued to face threats and had to move to Detroit in 1957 due to the danger. She is remembered as an iconic figure in the civil rights movement who helped launch nationwide efforts to end segregation.

1. Rosa Parks

2. Civil Rights Pioneer
Famed civil rights activist
Rosa Parks was born Rosa
Louise McCauley on February
4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama.
Her refusal to surrender her seat
to a white passenger on a public
bus Montgomery, Alabama,
spurred on a citywide boycott
and helped launch nationwide
efforts to end segregation of
public facilities.

3. Segregation
During this time, the city of
Montgomery was segregated. This
meant that things were different for
white people and black people. They
had different schools, different
churches, different stores, different
elevators, and even different drinking
fountains. Places often had signs
saying "For Colored Only" or "For
Whites Only". When Rosa would ride
the bus to work, she would have to sit
in the back in the seats marked "for
colored". Sometimes she would have
to stand even if there were seats open
up front.

4. Fighting for Equal Rights
Growing up Rosa had lived with
racism in the south. She was scared
of the members of the KKK who
had burned down black school
houses and churches. She also saw
a black man get beaten by a white
bus driver for getting in his way.
The bus driver only had to pay a
$24 fine. Rosa and her husband
Raymond wanted to do something
about it. They joined the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP).

5. Sitting on the Bus
It was on December 1, 1955 that Rosa made her famous stand (while
sitting) on the bus. Rosa had settled in her seat on the bus after a hard day's
work. All the seats on the bus had filled up when a white man boarded. The
bus driver told Rosa and some other African-Americans to stand up. Rosa
refused. The bus driver said he would call the police, but Rosa didn't move.
Soon the police showed up and Rosa was arrested.

8. Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa was charged with
breaking a segregation law
and was told to pay a fine
of $10. She refused to pay,
however, saying that she
was not guilty and that the
law was illegal. She
appealed to a higher court.

9. That night a number of
African-American leaders got
together and decided to
boycott the city buses. This
meant that Africans would no
longer ride the buses. One of
these leaders was Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. He became
the president of the
Montgomery Improvement
Association which helped to
lead the boycott.

10. The boycott continued for 381 days! Finally, the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that the segregation laws in Alabama
were unconstitutional.

11. After the Boycott
Just because the laws were changed, things didn't get any easier
for Rosa. She received many threats and feared for her life. Many of
the civil rights leader's houses were bombed, including the home of
Martin Luther King Jr. In 1957 Rosa and Raymond moved to
Detroit, Michigan.

12. Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was called "the first lady of civil
rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement". Her birthday,
February 4, and the day she was arrested, December 1, have both
become Rosa Parks Day, commemorated in both California and
Ohio.