ROSA PARKS

Rosa “Lee” Louise McCauley was born in Tuskegee, Alabama on February 4, 1913 to James and Leona McCauley. As a little girl she suffered from Chronic Tonsillitis. Her parents separated when she was young, she stayed with her mother and they moved to Pine Level, Alabama. Rosa was raised on a farm with her maternal grandparents, mother, and younger brother Sylvester. Leona, her mother, home schooled Rosa until she was 11 years of age. Which she was then enrolled into the Industrial School for Girls which was located in Montgomery.

She had to walk to school and whites were able to catch the bus. She quotes, “I’d see the bus pass everyday… But to me, that was a way of life; we had no choice but to accept what was the custom. The bus was among the first ways I realized there was a black world and a white world.”

English: Photograph of Rosa Parks with Dr. Martin ...

English:

Martin Luther King leaning on a lectern. Deutsch: ...

In her life there have been very few kind white people, and it was impossible for segregation to be ignored. Sylvester was in the World War 2 and when he returned he was dressed as an uppity.

In 1931, Rosa met a barber named Raymond Parks he was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). They soon married in 1932. The wedding took place at her mother’s house. That was when her named changed to Rosa Louise Parks. As a part of working for the NAACP, Raymond was working on collecting money for the Scottsboro Boys, when a group lied and accused him of raping two Caucasian women.

In December 1943, Rosa became active in the American Civil Rights movement. Also, she joined the Montgomery division of the NAACP. Rosa was elected volunteer secretary to the president. She quotes, about her job, “I...