ADVERTISEMENT

Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat 62 years ago today — here are 14 facts about her

Rosa Parks was a civil rights icon who wanted equality for everyone. Let's take a look at what kind of progress she made.

Today is the 62nd anniversary of when Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in .

ADVERTISEMENT

Known as the "mother of the Civil Rights Movement" in the 1950s, Parks fought against segregation and the Jim Crow Laws of the time.

Take a look at her history-making legacy.

Parks was a seamstress by trade, but was also active in the civil rights efforts starting in the '40s.

ADVERTISEMENT

She joined the NAACP in 1943 and served as branch secretary for over a decade.

During her role as an lifelong activist, she pushed for voter registration, supported black victims of violence, and fought for women's rights.

She also worked toward the desegregation of schools and city spaces.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks committed her most famous act of resistance. She refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus for a white passenger.

Parks wasn't the first to defy the city's segregationist laws, but her act of resistance became a catalyst for the civil rights movement and the bus boycotts over the next year.

ADVERTISEMENT

Here is the police report from that day:

"I was not tired physically," she wrote in her biography, in response to the myth that she refused to give up her seat because her feet were tired. "No more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was 42. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in."

Parks' arrest was supposed to be a one-day boycott, but it sparked something much broader.

Her defiance helped lead to the Supreme Court's decision to end segregation on buses and became a catalyst for the civil rights movement. After Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., made a speech asking people to join in her fight against segregation, nearly 20,000 passengers boycotted Montgomery’s public buses for 381 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Some lines to black neighborhoods even shut down because they couldn't sustain the costs. By the end of the boycott, more than 40,000 regular riders had stopped riding the bus.

Source:

In a statement to an Associated Press reporter in the courtroom, King said the Supreme Court decision was a "glorious daybreak to end a long night of enforced segregation."

Parks later went on to work for several congressmen, and continued to participate in marches around the world to protest racial inequality.

Parks, who died in 2005 at the age of 92 in Detroit, was an activist who left an unforgettable legacy.

ADVERTISEMENT

"We are here on Earth to live, grow up, and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom," she once wrote.

FOLLOW BUSINESS INSIDER AFRICA

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Recommended articles

Africa's gaming gold rush: Unveiling the surge in online gambling

Africa's gaming gold rush: Unveiling the surge in online gambling

Seven African countries added to Meta's AI service coverage

Seven African countries added to Meta's AI service coverage

10 African countries with the lowest inflation rates in 2024

10 African countries with the lowest inflation rates in 2024

Davido launches his label Nine+ in partnership with UnitedMasters

Davido launches his label Nine+ in partnership with UnitedMasters

Nigeria's economic ranking drops to fourth in Africa

Nigeria's economic ranking drops to fourth in Africa

Moscow inaugurates its House of Africa

Moscow inaugurates its House of Africa

The CBN justifies $2b billion loss in forex, dispelling Naira defense claims

The CBN justifies $2b billion loss in forex, dispelling Naira defense claims

10 best airports in Africa in 2024

10 best airports in Africa in 2024

10 most expensive cities in Africa in 2024

10 most expensive cities in Africa in 2024

ADVERTISEMENT