CONTENT

• Aim

• Introduction

• Early Life and Education

• Political Life

• Leadership Qualities

• Legacy and Honors

• Later Life

• Questions and Answers

AIM

The Aim of the presentation is to highlight and emphasize the leadership qualities of Rosa Parks and to inculcate those qualities in our lives.

INTRODUCTION

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks or Rosa Parks was born in February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama.

She was an African American Civil Rights Activist, whom the U.S Congress called "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement".

Her refusal to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus spurred a city-wide boycott. The city of Montgomery had no choice but to lift the law requiring segregation on public buses.

EARLY LIFE & EDUCATION

Rosa Parks's childhood brought her early experiences with racial discrimination and activism for racial equality and activism for racial equality.

After her parents separated, Rosa's mother moved the family to Pine Level, Alabama to live with her parents, Rose and Sylvester Edwards both former slaves and strong advocates for racial equality; the family lived on the Edwards' farm, where Rosa would spend her youth

Signature of Rosa Parks

Young Rosa Parks in a NAACP Get –Together. Martin Luther

King is seen in the background

She attended segregated schools in Montgomery, including the city's Industrial School for Girls beginning at age 11.

Young Rosa Parks in a family get together in 1927

In 1929, while in the 11th grade and attending a laboratory school for secondary education led by the Alabama State Teachers College for Negroes, Rosa left school and got a job at a shirt factory in Montgomery.

Young Rosa Parks in a NAACP Get –Together. Martin Luther

King is seen in the background

In 1932, at age 19, Rosa met and married Raymond Parks, a barber and an active member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Young Rosa Parks in a NAACP Get –Together. Martin Luther

King is seen in the background

With Raymond's support, Rosa earned her high school degree in 1933. She soon became actively involved in civil rights issues by joining the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP in 1943, serving as the chapter's youth leader as well as secretary to NAACP E.D Nixon, a post she held until 1957.

Rosa Parks accompanied to the court by E.Nixon and members on the

NAACP

POLITICAL LIFE

One day in 1943, Parks boarded the bus and paid the fare. She then moved to her seat but driver James F. Blake told her to follow city rules and enter the bus again from the back door. Parks exited the bus, but before she could re-board at the rear door, Blake drove off, leaving her to walk home in the rain.

After working all day, Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus around 6 p.m., Thursday, December 1, 1955, in downtown Montgomery. She paid her fare and sat in an empty seat in the first row of back seats reserved for blacks in the "colored" section. Near the middle of the bus, her row was directly behind the ten seats reserved for white passengers.

The Montgomery City Code required that all public transportation be

segregated and that bus drivers had the "powers of a police officer of the city

while in actual charge of any bus for the purposes of carrying out the

provisions" of the code. While operating a bus, drivers were required to

provide separate but equal accommodations for white and black passengers

by assigning seats. This was accomplished with a line roughly in the middle of

the bus separating white passengers in the front of the bus and African-

Initially, she did not notice that the bus driver was the same man, James F. Blake, who had left her in the rain in 1943. As the bus traveled along its regular route, all of the white-only seats in the bus filled up. The bus reached the third stop in front of the Empire Theater, and several white passengers boarded.

Blake noted that the front of the bus was filled with white passengers, with two or three standing. He moved the "colored" section sign behind Parks and demanded that four black people give up their seats in the middle section so that the white passengers could sit.

Parks moved, but toward the window seat; she did not get up to move to the redesignated colored section. Blake said, "Why don't you stand up?" Parks responded, "I don't think I should have to stand up." Blake called the police to arrest Parks

The Infamous mug shot of Rosa Parks .this appeared as a slogan in Black American Campaigns after the boycott

Incident was over and the whole case was settled down.

The Transcript and the Arrest Report of Rosa Parks

The police report of Rosa Parks being arrested

The Fingerprints taken on the day of Rosa Parks being arrested. The original documents are kept in the

Rosa Parks memorial museum, Alabama.

Parks was charged with a violation of Chapter 6, Section 11 segregation law of the Montgomery City code, although technically she had not taken a white-only seat; she had been in a colored section. Edgar Nixon, president of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP and leader of the Pullman Porters Union, and her friend Clifford Durr bailed Parks out of jail the next evening.

King wrote in his 1958 book Stride Toward Freedom that Parks' arrest was the precipitating factor, rather than the cause, of the protest: "The cause lay deep in the record of similar injustices…. Actually, no one can understand the action of Mrs. Parks unless he realizes that eventually the cup of endurance runs over, and the human personality cries out, 'I can take it no longer.'"

E.D. Nixon, shown here with his son, E.D. Nixon Jr., also known as Nick LaTour,

was one of Montgomery’s civil rights pioneers. (Contributed)

Rosa Parks in the same bus on the same seat she was on the day she was arrested.

The Montgomery bus boycott was also the inspiration for the bus boycott in the township of Alexandria,

Eastern Cape of South Africa which was one of the key events in the radicalization of the black majority of that country unde

leadership of the African National Congress.

E.D Nixon and Martin Lurther King conducted many gatherings to assist Rosa Parks and the Boycott

The boycott lasted 382 days and brought Mrs. Parks, Dr. King, and their cause to the attention of the world. A Supreme Court Decision struck down the Montgomery ordinance under which Mrs. Parks had been fined, and outlawed racial segregation on public transportation.

Parks on her day of arrestment. This incident paved way to a massive boycott

which led the whole US government

Abide new laws in apartheid movements.

Parks on a Montgomery bus on December 21, 1956, the day Montgomery's

public transportation system was legally integrated. Behind Parks is Nicholas

C. Chriss, a UPI reporter covering the event.

She had developed a very strong relationship with the activist at that time along with her husband being a member of the NCAAP.their assistance was immensely given once Rosa Parks was arrested.E.D Nixon, Martin Luther King Jr. were always there for her in all the time.

They were always behind the scene very actively. in coordinating the boycott and organizing anti-apartheid campaigns all around the US. in Mrs. Park’s case, the black leaders got themselves involved in the case seriously. and E.D Nixon was arrested twice during the 382days of boycott until the court justified their appeal.

After her arrest, Parks became an icon of the Civil Rights Movement but

suffered hardships as a result. Due to economic sanctions used against

activists, she lost her job at the department store. Her husband quit his job

after his boss forbade him to talk about his wife or the legal case. Parks

traveled and spoke extensively about the issues.

Rosa Parks on a guest visit to the international summit of Social Community

Servants in Japan

Rosa Parks with the prime minister of Japan at the international Summit of

Social Community Servants in Japan

Rosa Parks with Martin Luther King Jr.

The No. 2857 bus on which Parks was riding before her arrest (a GM "old-look" transit bus, serial number 1132),

is now a museum exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum.

LEADERSHIP QUALITIES

She let her ACTIONS speak for her.

Instead ranting and raving about things, she just quietly took action and gave new truth to the notion that

"ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS"

Long before her now famous action on the bus, she demonstrated her quiet strength in working to change things that were unjust for the sake of others.

She didn't stop with one action.

Rosa Parks spent a lifetime quietly going about using her influence for good. She stayed true to her convictions. Rosa Parks story is American history.

Her arrest and trial, a 381-day Montgomery bus boycott, and, finally, the Supreme Court's ruling in November 1956 that segregation on transportation is unconstitutional

But moreover, her determination to work for others became the catalyst for change throughout her life.

Rosa Parks expressing her ideas at an Interview

Books written in memory of Rosa Parks

Parks played a huge part in internationalizing the awareness of the nature of life for African Americans at that time.

After her role in the boycott Parks became an icon for the Civil Rights movement. This didn’t come without sacrifice; Parks lost her job and her husband quit after his boss ordered him not to discuss his wife’s legal case.

In 1957 Parks left Montgomery, largely to find work but also because of disagreements with King and other leaders of the ailing civil rights movement. She moved to Virginia and worked as a seamstress until 1965 when she became a secretary for the African-American US Representative John Conyers

Rosa became very famous in all the US and she was constantly invited as

guest speakers at numerous black American campaigns

She set the example of the power of feminine dignity.

With an undeniable sparkle in her eye, she presented herself to the world with the beauty of dignity and grace. Always a soft, warm smile and understated elegance seemed to follow her presence whenever she showed up.

It was a presence that commanded respect and attention without words...just by being a leader in her own right.

LEGACY AND HONORS

Councilwoman Joann Watson, from left, Lloyd Wesley, Jr., Detroit postmaster, Elaine Eason Steele, co-founder of the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, and Sen. Carl Levin applaud at the unveiling of the

Rosa Parksí 100th birthday commemorative postage stamp at the Museum of African American History in Detroit on Monday, Feb. 4, 2013. The Rosa

Parks Forever Stamp went on sale Monday and was part of a series of events scheduled throughout the day to honor her. AP Photo/The Detroit

News, David Coates) DETROIT FREE PRESS OUT, HUFFINGTON POST

The USPS issued its first civil rights stamp Jan 1.The series wraps up in August with the dedication of a stamp recognizing the 50th anniversary of the “March on Washington,” where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.

The Parks stamp marks the second in a new civil rights collection from the Postal Service.

1976, Detroit renamed 12th Street "Rosa Parks Boulevard." 1979, the NAACP awarded Parks the Spingarn Medal, its highest honor, 1980, she received the Martin Luther King Jr. Award.1983, she was inducted into Michigan Women's Hall of Fame for her achievements in civil rights. 1990, Parks was invited to be part of the group welcoming Nelson Mandela upon his release from prison in South Africa.

A plaque entitled "The Bus Stop" at Dexter Avenue and Montgomery State the place Rosa Parks boarded the bus

pays tribute to her and the success of the Montgomery bus boycott.

Rosa Parks Memorial Plaque in Alabama

The Rosa Parks Congressional Gold MedalStatue of Rosa Parks

in Statuary Hall in the

United States Capitol,

Washington, D.C.

The statue of Rosa Parks in the Museum Michigen, Ohio.made in memory of the mother of civil rights

1992, she received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award along with Benjamin Spock and others at the Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts.

1995, she received the Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Parks and U.S. President Bill Clinton

Rosa Parks receiving a honors honorary medal of state from the governor of state of Ohio.

Rosa Parks receiving a honorary medal for her immense service as a social service activist in 1993

1996, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given by the U.S. executive branch. 1998, she was the first to receive the International Freedom Conductor Award given by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Barack Obama sitting on the bus.

Parks was arrested sitting in the same row Obama is in, but on the opposite side.

Rosa Parks Transit Center, Detroit

LATER YEARS

Parks resided in Detroit until she died of natural causes at the age of 92 on October 24, 2005, in her apartment on the east side of the city

She and her husband never had children and she outlived her only sibling. She was survived by her sister-in-law, 13 nieces and nephews and their families, and several cousins, most of them residents of Michigan or Alabama.

Since the founding in 1852 of the practice of lying in state in the rotunda, Parks was the 31st person, the first American who had not been a U.S. government official, and the second private person (after the French planner Pierre L'Enfant) to be honored in this way. She was the first woman and the second black person to lie in state in the Capitol.

When Parks died, her fame was such that ESPN noted her death on the "Bottom Line," I

on-screen ticker, on all of its networks. Usually, only information related to sports is found there.

Mrs. Parks spent her last years living quietly in Detroit, where she died in 2005 at the age of 92. After her death,

her casket was placed in the rotunda of the United States Capitol for two days,

so the nation could pay its respects to the woman whose courage had changed the lives of so many

References