Who is Rosa Parks?
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Rosa Parks: The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement
During the first 6 decades of the twentieth century Jim Crow 'laws' enforced racial segregation. The claim was separate but equal, but the was never the case. The schools that 'colored' children went to never had the books, teachers' pay or anything else comparable to the facilities for whites. This was of everything from hospitals to water fountains. Public swimming pools for 'coloreds' often didn't exist.
'Colored' and whites road the same buses, but the experience was never the same. A negro would enter the front of the bus, pay a fair, leave the bus, go to the back door and go in to sit in the back. Rosa Parks stated that even after paying, there was no guarantee that a 'colored' person would actually get on the bus. It was not unheard of for them to be left.
I grew up in small town Iowa. I was about 10 before I saw a 'colored' person in the flesh and about twice that age before I saw a city bus. Thus when I was about 7 or 8 this episode of the Mickey Mouse Club didn't phase me, but it certainly stayed in my memory for future reference.
Friday's were talent days. Kids from around the country came to perform. I naively thought that this was something open to kids like me. One Friday there was a group of black children, I think they were siblings, Osmond like. They sang a cute little song about how 'it doesn't matter what you say, but how you say it'. One of the verses went, "The mean bus driver says, 'Get to the back of the bus' but the nice bus driver says, 'Please, get to the back of the bus' ". It didn't mean much then, but one day, I think I was almost 30, it suddenly hit me. The song came back and slapped me in the face. I thought about those parents who not only had to teach their children to be second class citizens, but let them get on national TV and say that it was ok as long as someone said 'Please'.
But Rosa Parks' brave decision to not get up from her seat, to not give that seat to a white man, risking arrest and God's only knew what else, in order to finally sit down and say, NO MORE!
I do want to remind people that this was 1955. There were no real rules about how prisons were treated in jails, certainly no protections for 'colored' folks in white jails. She was not guaranteed merely an unpleasant night, she risked it all.
Three reasons to love Rosa Parks
1. Rosa Parks was an average working woman who one day just decided she wasn't going to take it anymore. Having decided this she acted and accepted whatever consequences might happen without complaint.2. Rosa Parks lived through difficult times after that. She and her husband both lost their jobs because of her action. But she never regretted what she did. She also resisted opportunities to leave the community and go somewhere where she could start over. She stayed there and continued the fight.
3. Rosa Parks spent the rest of her life working for justice for all people.
No Fear
Quick, what do you think of Rosa Parks?
Come Join Margo's Salon
Rosa Parks Part II: Israeli Women Fight Against Attacks and Segregation on Public Buses in 2009
Blogger Jonathan Turley informs us on the Israeli women who have used Rosa Parks as a role model Women in Israel have to deal with segregation and harassment on buses from Ultra Orthodox men who make them sit in the back of the bus.
"Despite its strong secular traditions, Israel remains a nation with many laws and customs enforced to protect Jewish religious practices. Public buses have long been a danger zone for women who are targeted by ultra-orthodox Jews for wearing trousers or mixing with men. Women have been physically assaulted and are forced to sit in the back of the bus in religious areas. Now, the Israeli Supreme Court is faced with a filing by women who have refused to move to the back of the bus like Rosa Parks."
Read more about what these brave women are doing.
Israeli Women Fight For Right to Not Be Harassed on Public Busses
I admire these women. Rosa Parks would have been proud to have them follow in her footsteps.
“The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
A Black Woman Going to Jail in 1955 Was Very Dangerous, But She Didn't Give In This Time
About Paying and Not Riding
The Bus
Rosa Parks Funeral
Shout Out For Rosa Parks!
Share your stories, sightings, thoughts, rants, raves...
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Tipi
Jan 28, 2012 @ 4:27 pm | delete
- Returning to this beautiful tribute to Rosa Parks and leaving angel dust for an angel.
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Rafick Jun 11, 2011 @ 12:24 pm | delete
- She did a great job. Rafick
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hlkljgk Apr 13, 2011 @ 10:20 am | delete
- love the interview.
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Rob3
Apr 4, 2011 @ 7:24 am | delete
- Rosa Parks was a wonderful inspirational woman. This is a great tribute, well done!
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SereneSea
Mar 20, 2011 @ 9:14 am | delete
- A remarkable lens full of inspiration on Rosa Parks - featured on :
lensography-of-short-inspiring-articles-with-inspirational-and-motivational-words
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Tipi
Feb 2, 2011 @ 10:58 am | delete
- Margo, I was thinking of your tribute to Rosa Parks when I was working on my African American Coloring Pages & Books and just got it lensrolled over, thank you!
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photofk3
Jan 30, 2011 @ 12:52 pm | delete
- Rosa Parks was a couragous woman who stood up for what she believed in. She was a real hero, I deeply admire people like that.
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7Suze7
Jan 26, 2011 @ 5:52 pm | delete
- They killed people for less than that in those days. What bravery!
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flowergardener
Nov 21, 2010 @ 8:32 am | delete
- I very much respect Rosa! Thank you for honoring her with this page :)
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ElizabethJeanAllen
Nov 12, 2010 @ 5:11 pm | delete
- Awesome info
Thanks!
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The Latest Yahoo News on Rosa Parks
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Fetching RSS feed... please stand byAbout Margo Arrowsmith
Table of Contents
- Rosa Parks in Her Own Words
- Three reasons to love Rosa Parks
- No Fear
- Quick, what do you think of Rosa Parks?
- Come Join Margo's Salon
- Rosa Parks Part II: Israeli Women Fight Against Attacks and Segregation on Public Buses in 2009
- A Black Woman Going to Jail in 1955 Was Very Dangerous, But She Didn't Give In This Time
- Rosa Parks
- About Paying and Not Riding
- The Bus
- Rosa Parks Funeral
- Shout Out For Rosa Parks!
- The Rosa Parks Institute
- The Latest Yahoo News on Rosa Parks
- Rosa Parks Guardian Angel for Civil Rights
- Proud of Rosa Parks
- Don't Leave Home Without This
- Learn More About Rosa Parks
- Rosa Parks Under Arrest
- Get Your Free Copy of "How to Hire an Affordable Home Health Team"
- Changing the Guard Blog
- About Margo Arrowsmith
by Margo_Arrowsmith
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