Preview

Why Is Rosa Parks Considered A History Of Activism

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1922 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Is Rosa Parks Considered A History Of Activism
From the moment Rosa Parks could speak, she had something to say. As she grew older, those words that she spoke would catapult the civil rights movement into what it is known as today. Most of the time, there are some frustrating misconceptions about who Rosa Parks was. Her history of activism is sometimes blatantly overlooked in the eyes of those who don’t know her whole story. From her work with the NAACP Youth Council, voter registration efforts, to her attendance of the Highlander Folk School. These brave displays of activism are not always the first things one thinks about when they hear the name, Rosa Parks. To truly understand Rosa Parks’s legacy, one needs to educate themselves on these important landmarks in civil rights history. …show more content…
In 1949, she and Johnnie Carr founded the Youth Council. At first, the group seemed to be doing very well but it soon died out due to lack of membership. The increase of violence against the black community made the time period a frightening one to join the NAACP. In 1954, the Youth Council saw a sudden increase in membership under Parks’s authority. Some black parents were hesitant to have their children participate in something so dangerous. Despite this, a small group of children regularly came to the meetings held in Parks’s apartment on Sundays. During these sessions, Parks took control of the room and demanded a serious attitude from each of the members. Parks taught the youngsters listening and note taking skills and stressed the importance of neatness. Rosa Parks had the children of the Youth Council remember the significance of being active and reminded them of their own self-worth. Parks didn’t let the children forget their rights and the power of the vote. These values endured throughout the existence of the NAACP Youth Council chapter that Rosa Parks led and still hold true …show more content…
When they traveled to downtown Montgomery, they always drank from the white water fountain. Doing this, Rosa Parks reminded each black child that they shouldn’t feel less important because of the color of their skin. Parks took the kids to meetings all across Alabama and encouraged the black members of those cities to vote. They encouraged black voters to not be afraid to register and even helped them prepare for the registration tests. In addition to attending meetings, they also did citizenship education and met with other active young people. Traveling around the state, Parks also tried to make connections to find funds to send the Youth Council members to college. Parks regularly encouraged the group to protest. They attended several protests at the main library, which all ultimately did not change anything. But the children were persistent. They wrote letters to Washington and didn’t spend time arguing over motions. The young people of the NAACP Youth Council were deeply moved by Rosa Parks’s determination and leadership. Most people do not know about Parks’s tireless endeavors with this organization, so they do not know what she went through to make the Youth Council possible. The amount of respect and support that Parks showed the children of the Youth Council truly reveals what kind of person she was. Parks’s work with the children of the civil rights movement remains a key characteristic in her

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    To understand Rosa Park’s role in civil disobedience, one must first have knowledge of her personal life. Born as Rosa Louise McCauley to James McCauley…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rosa Parks was an African American civil rights activist known as the “mother of the modern day civil rights movement” born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. Parks had ancestors that were slaves and was very aware of segregation. She earned the name of the “mother of the modern day civil rights movement” in December of 1955 by refusing to give up her seat to a white man as she was told to do by the bus driver. She did this with the intention of a new movement with better rights for all colored people. Parks got arrested and charged for her refusal and the city started a boycott of the bus line called the Montgomery bus boycott.…

    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Most of Civil Right Leaders’ accomplishments are always tainted as an unintentional coincidence. Rosa Parks’ incident on the bus, where she was asked to give up her seat to a white man, made her known as the face of the civil rights movement. Even though she took bold and clear actions, she was labeled as a quiet, old woman who happened to be in an unfortunate incident accidentally. In the article, “ How History Got the Rosa Parks Story Wrong”, Theoharis uses documentary evidence to show how Rosa Parks was a lifelong activist, a rebel and an outspoken person to challenge the belief Rosa Parks was a quiet woman.…

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to Mr. Raymond Arsenault the recent death of Rosa Parks refocused nationwide attention on one of the crucial figures of the civil rights movement the Freedom Riders. However without the heroism of hundreds of unsung activist, Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on the bus would not have accomplished what it did. In the "Freedom Riders," Raymond Arsenault…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    First important thing about Rosa Parks was when she got arrested it started a worldwide boycott were the blacks would refuses to ride the bus and they would walk where ever they had to go cause they didn't think rosa parks getting arrested was not right cause she paid to sit in her seat and the bus driver said if you don't give up your seat you will go to gail and rosa parks said that was fine and she was arrested and taken to jail and that started the world wide boycott.…

    • 235 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Anne Moody's Journey

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The first step Moody took on her journey of activism was to join the NAACP and SNCC. The majority of work done by Anne Moody while working for these two organizations was voter registration drives. During Moody’s stay at college, she would often travel to the delta and stay in the Freedom House. Here, Moody and her colleagues would plan and execute the voter registration drives. Moody would also organize rallies. Unfortunately, these rallies were poorly attended, and not much was accomplished. Many Negroes were too afraid to vote and did not attend the rallies because of the threat of losing their jobs. The tactic of making Negroes aware of their civil rights in a nonviolent and passive manner failed from the beginning of Moody’s inception into the Movement.…

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    When one thinks about the civil rights movement, the first name that comes to mind is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He contributed greatly to the advancement of African American people in the U.S.; however, in the case of the Birmingham Campaign, it was a collective group effort from numerous local leaders and MLK that peacefully protested for, and eventually gained, the rights that all American citizens deserve. Few mention the efforts of local leaders like Fred Shuttlesworth’s work with Project “C”, James Bevel’s orchestrating of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade, Wyatt Tee Walker’s organizing confrontations with city officials. MLK’s own brother A.D. King, who played a part in the eventual success of the movement, is often left out of these…

    • 2816 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rosa Parks Research Paper

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Rosa parks had changed history. Rosa parks was born on February 4, 1913, and died October 24, 2005, at the age 92. Rosa Parks had a very exciting childhood, and had only one sibling. On December 1, 1995, while riding a bus, Mrs.Parks refused to give her seat to a white man, which was against Alabama's racial segregation laws. Because Mrs.Parks was african american, she had to move off of her seat. When Mrs.Parks refused to give her seat to a white man, the bus driver had told her to get off, but she refused. Consequently, Mrs.parks was arrested and she influenced towards the new movement called the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a period of about 381 days, which included more than 90% of african americans not riding the bus. The Montgomery Bus Boycott left a lot of white people unhappy. After the long period of not riding the bus, profits were low. Bus drivers did not make as much money as they did before the bus boycott started. Because bus profits were so low, the government had no choice, but to charge an even higher tax on taxi cars and on public buses. The government had ordered taxi drivers to now charge forty five cents per person, and if they refused they would go to jail. When Rosa parks was in jail,(which she lasted only one night in) Jo Ann Robinson (one of the first leaders of the boycott) had stayed up all night working on flyers that she had planned to hang up about the boycott. When Rosa Parks had finally gone out of jail, she was surprised that her actions took such great impact on society. Once Mrs.Parks had continued to protest, black churches across the country had donated shoes to protesters. They had donated shoes to protesters because they knew that protesting involved a lot of walking , and that wore out shoes. Rosa Parks was important during the civil rights movement because she proved that no matter what race you are, you have the right to stand up for your rights no matter what it…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Young people were looking toward the social progress of the nation, not only for themselves, but for their people. They are not afraid as they are only doing what is morally right, as even little children are responding to what they want as freedom. In this chapter, Dr. King describes four major problems that need to be resolved: desegregation of lunch counters, rest rooms, fitting rooms, drinking fountains and department stores, upgrading and hiring of Negroes, dropping of charges against jailed demonstrators, and creating a biracial committee for desegregation in other areas. These requests were proposed to businessmen, because if they negotiated, it was easier to break down the rigid structure of the white society.…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In 1987 she cofounded an institute to help young people. She worked in the office of Michigan congressman John Conyers. Rosa did not like the way the black people were getting treated. There was an…

    • 195 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mr. Hrabowski began his keynote speech by telling the audience about when he was a young boy and his parents insisted that he go to a church service where a guest pastor was speaking. This guest pastor emphasized the need for the children to participate in a peaceful protest going on, proclaiming, “If the children participate in this peaceful march, America will know even our babies know the difference between right and wrong” (M. King). It was soon revealed that this guest pastor was Martin Luther King Jr. himself. From there Mr. Hrabowski described his experience in the march, his realization that he was not in fact a second hand citizen and that he could do anything he put his mind to. This realization put the strength of change behind him and he pursued his education. Personally, I took away from the speech that he felt that education was the key behind change. In parting words, he left the audience, especially the students, with these words: “Learn to ask questions… learn to listen… and learn to act” (F. Hrabowski).…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rosa Parks was a brave,courageous,and smart. She was born February 4, 1913, she was known for the Montgomery bus boycott. Even though blacks were discriminated Park’s didn't believe in it, she was going to fight for what she believed in.…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Back Of The Bus Theory

    • 1076 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Identity is hard to acquire when young adults are constantly swarmed by outside influences, and personal experience tends to be the best teacher when searching for one’s own self. The same way fashion trends are set by major corporations and followed by most if not all Americans; are the very same techniques used when seat selection comes into play for our generation. Now analyze this fact, Rosa Parks refused to give her seat up during the mid-late 1950’s due to inequality and injustice of this system. This would be considered the unconditioned stimulus. She refused to adhere to certain rules, guidelines, and regulations set forth, and the publicity generated from this never before seen uprising sparked controversy amongst her African American peers to follow…

    • 1076 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Research Paper: Rosa Parks

    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement Rosa Parks is one of the most famous people in the history of the American Civil Rights movement, for her refusal to “move to the back of the bus” on December 1, 1955. Although her moment of protest was not a planned event , it certainly proved to be a momentous one. The nature of Rosa Park’s protest, the response of the authorities of Montgomery, the tactics adopted by the civil rights leaders in Montgomery, and the role eventually played by Federal authority, were all aspects of this particular situation that were to be repeated again and again in the struggle for equality of race. Rosa Parks’ action, and the complex combination of events that followed, in some measure, foreshadowed a great deal of the history of the civil rights movement over the next decade. Obeying the law can change history in an instance, even if you’re actions don’t express it, it will later on affect society. After the arrest of Rosa Parks, black people of Montgomery and sympathizers of other races organized and promoted a boycott of the city bus line that lasted 381 days. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was appointed the spokesperson for the Bus Boycott and taught nonviolence to all participants. Contingent with the protest in Montgomery, others took shape throughout the south and the country. They took form as sit-ins, eat-ins, swim-ins, and similar causes. Thousands of courageous people joined the "protest" to demand equal rights for all people. As of my opinion, we should all be questioning the fact on how brave someone can be…

    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This provided mounting evidence used to demonstrate the ongoing sexual assaults committed by white men against African American women. One way Parks brought attention to sexual assault was when she wrote to Chauncey Sparks, the Governor of Alabama, in an attempt to “urge him to use his high office to reconvene the Henry County Grand Jury” (Parks n.p.). Parks, Taylor, and the other African American women who were aware of the ongoing acts of sexual abuse believed that these men should not walk free due to white supremacy. Parks believed that “there is equal justice for all citizens” and not just white citizens (Parks…

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays