1. African American Struggle for Equality: A Civil Rights Hero Name
Rosa Parks
African American Struggle for Equality:
A Civil Rights Hero
Name

2. Introduction to Rosa’s Life
Rosa Parks is often referred to as the “Mother of the Modern day Civil Rights Movement”
Her story helps explain how important every individual citizen is in a democracy

3. Background Facts: Rosa Parks
Name: Rosa Louis McCauley Parks
Birth: February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama
Parents: James and Leona McCauley
Childhood: Grew up on a small farm with her mother, brother, and grandparents

4. Rosa’s Early Years Education:
At age 11, Rosa was began attending the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls
This school gave Rosa many new opportunities
“Take advantage of the opportunities, no matter how few they are”-- Leona McCauley
Rosa remembers life as a child by saying,
“Back then, we didn't have any civil rights. It was just a matter of survival, of existing from one day to the next. I remember going to sleep as a girl hearing the Klan ride at night and hearing a lynching and being afraid the house would burn down.” -- Rosa Parks
Quotes from:

5. Rosa’s Adult Years
Rosa married a barber and civil rights activist, Raymond Parks in 1932
Rosa eventually went on to attend Alabama State College, along with Raymond Parks, in 1943
Rosa worked as a seamstress, housekeeper and later a secretary for the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

6. A Civil Rights Activist
Along with the Montgomery NAACP chapter, Rosa began fighting quietly for equal rights and to improve the position of African Americans in the segregated south
Appointed the youth leader in Montgomery
"I worked on numerous cases with the NAACP but we did not get the publicity. There were cases of flogging, peonage, murder, and rape. We didn't seem to have too many successes. It was more a matter of trying to challenge the powers that be, and to let it be known that we did not wish to continue being second-class citizens.” -- Rosa Parks
Quote from:

7. Segregation in the South
Montgomery had very strict segregation laws, especially on busses
Laws required blacks to pay fees and then get off bus and board on the back
Bus drivers sometimes left without paid costumers
Blacks were required to give up their seats to a white costumer
A black person was not allowed to sit across from a white person
Two thirds of bus riders were black

8. Boycotting Segregation
On December 1, 1955 Rosa took a seat in the front row of the “colored” section of a Montgomery bus
The bus filled up, and the driver ordered Parks and three other African- American passengers to move back

9. Boycotting Segregation
Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man
“I refused to stand up--or in this case, sit down”
“I refused to move”
The bus driver then called the police and had Rosa arrested, her reply was, “you may do that”
Quotes from The Americans, pg 704

10. The Impact of Rosa Parks
The news of Park’s actions traveled fast throughout the African-American community in Montgomery
Black community leaders formed the Montgomery Improvement Association in order to organize the bus boycott
They elected Martin Luther King, Jr. to lead the group
African Americans filed a lawsuit and refused to ride the busses for 381 days
Finally, in 1956, the Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation

11. A Civil Rights Hero
The modern civil rights movement is commonly thought to begin on December 1, 1955, the day Rosa refused to give up a seat on the bus
Her act of courage and bravery ended legal segregation in America
Rosa Parks became an inspiration to all people who believed in equal rights for all
It is with Parks example that gives us all the hope that any individual can change the world

12. Rosa Parks, who inspired a generation to fight for equality, died in 2005 at the age of 92

13. Works Cited
"Rosa Parks Biography." Academy of Achievement. Oct 31, :21 PST. 13 Feb 2008 <
"Meet Rosa Parks." Scholastic. 13 Feb 2008 <