"I would like to be known as a man who fought for freedom, equality, justice and the well-being of all people ".
These are the words of the woman who managed with one of her refusals to be the occasion for the birth of an entire anti-racist movement. The reason for Rosa Parks, who passed away today, in 2005.
It was December 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama. Parks, tired from her job as a seamstress, got on the bus to go home.
Climbing in, the black woman made her way to the back where the seats reserved for black passengers were located and sat in the first available seat.
After a few stops, a couple of white men walked up the middle. As soon as the driver realized that one of them had been left standing without a seat, he demanded that the colored people stand up and give up their seats. They all obeyed, except for Parks who looked him in the eye and refused.
Jim Crow laws were in place at the time, which separated colored people from white people.
Her arrest followed, while the incident went down in history and was the occasion for the birth of the movement against the policy of racial segregation in the USA.
The local police arrested her, as a result of which her fellow black citizens boycotted the bus system for 381 consecutive days and the case went to court. Court ruling ends racial segregation on Montgomery's public transportation system.
Parks herself, having to deal with constant incidents of racism and violence at her expense and at the same time losing her job, was forced to move from it to Michigan in 1957.
Rosa Parks won worldwide recognition. In 1996 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal for her fight against racism. Her act went down in history as "The Montgomery Bus Boycott".
He passed away in 2005 at the age of 92.
Parks herself, having to deal with constant incidents of racism and violence against her and losing her job, was forced to move from Alabama to Michigan in 1957.Some quotes from her
1. "I could never have imagined that I would write history. I was just tired of retreating"
2. "To bring about change, you must not be afraid to take the first step. We will fail when we fail to try"
3. "There is no future without education"
4. "Without a vision men perish, but without courage dreams die"
5. "Stand for something or you will fall for everything. Today's strong oak is yesterday's fruit that held its ground"