In Memoriam: Rosa Parks - 1913-2005
Rosa Parks was called the mother of the Civil
Rights movement. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white
person, as blacks were compelled to do in most of the south during the first
half of the twentieth century.
Her refusal to obey the Jim Crow laws as
those oppressive laws were called, initiated the Montgomery, Alabama bus strike.
Blacks did not ride the buses for over a year. Facing economic disaster, the bus
lines finally caved in.
This act began
the Civil Rights movement.
Her casket
lay in state in the United States Capitol Rotunda.
Rosa Parks is the first woman to be so
honored.
– Carol
Fondiller
Posted: Wed - November 2, 2005 at 12:42 PM