ROSA PARKS

"Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and hopefully we shall overcome."

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In December 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give a white man her seat on the bus — a small act of defiance that would become a major moment in history and the Civil Rights Movement. Montgomery, Alabama used to be a segregated city, with black and white people praying at different churches, shopping at different stores, riding different elevators, drinking water from different fountains, and even the front of buses were always reserved for the whites. Rosa Parks, despite knowing the dire consequences of rebellion, refused to ‘obey’ merely because of her skin color. She was arrested for her bravery against injustice. This isolated act and a single reply – ‘no’– ignited a boycott which continued for 381 days until the city repealed its law enforcing racial segregation on public buses. Rosa’s fearless rejection of racial segregation made her ‘the first lady of civil rights’.