Rosa Parks

Date of Birth: February 4, 1913

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Date of Death: October 24, 2005

Biography

Rosa Parks, born Rosa Louise McCauley on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama, is best known as a pivotal figure in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. She grew up in the racially segregated South and experienced firsthand the systemic discrimination that African Americans faced. Rosa attended the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls and later the Alabama State Teachers College for Negroes but had to drop out to care for her ailing grandmother. Rosa Parks’ most notable act of defiance occurred on December 1, 1955, when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus. Her arrest spurred the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted for 381 days and led to a Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. This act of courage and subsequent legal victory made her an icon of the fight against racial injustice. Throughout her life, Parks continued her activism by working with various civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr. She served as the secretary for the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP and later worked for U.S. Representative John Conyers in Detroit. Rosa Parks received numerous accolades for her contributions to civil rights, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Rosa Parks passed away on October 24, 2005, in Detroit, Michigan, leaving behind a legacy of resistance and the ongoing fight for equality.

5 Interesting Facts about Rosa Parks

1. Rosa Parks’ act of defiance on December 1, 1955, was not the first time she had challenged racial segregation; she had previously been kicked off a bus in 1943 for refusing to enter through the back door.

2. Parks worked as a seamstress at the time of her arrest.

3. The Montgomery Bus Boycott, inspired by her arrest, led to the rise of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a prominent leader in the Civil Rights Movement.

4. She co-founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, an organization dedicated to offering career training for young people.

5. In 1999, Time magazine named Rosa Parks one of the 20 most influential people of the 20th century.

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Rosa Parks

1. “I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free… so other people would also be free.”

2. “I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”

3. “Each person must live their life as a model for others.”

4. “Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.”

5. “You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.”

Highest Net Worth Achieved

Rosa Parks was not a wealthy individual; her highest net worth is estimated to have been modest, as she dedicated her life to activism and lived humbly.