Accomplishments Of Rosa Parks You Have to Read & Understand!

Rosa Parks was an American activist who worked against racism in the Civil Rights movement.

According to her, the only race that exists is the human race. Read the entire article to know everything about this incredible lady who also won the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Rosa Parks worked as a seamstress in the Montgomery Departmental Store. You might be wondering, what compelled a young woman, living a normal life, to become an activist.

Well, all of this began on the first day of December 1955. On this day, the famous Montgomery Bus Incident occurred which was followed by Montgomery Bus Boycott.

That incident changed Rosa Parks' life. Born on February 4, 1913, in Alabama, Park’s birthday is now celebrated every year on February 4 as ‘Rosa Parks day’. February 4 is a holiday in California and Missouri in order to commemorate the fearless lady.

Throughout Parks’ childhood, she experienced racial discrimination and inequality. Her grandparents were active advocates against racism. She attended schools that were segregated for her race.

When she was a student, African Americans were made to walk to school, while white people were provided with bus transport facilities. She had lived a major part of her life as a victim of racial discrimination.

Now, let’s talk about the Montgomery Bus Incident that occurred on December 1, 1955. While returning from work as a seamstress, she boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus to go back home after a long day.

As per the Montgomery City Code, the seats of the bus were equally bifurcated for white people and so-called 'colored' passengers and the driver had the power of a policeman while he was in charge to carry out the provisional city code. Parks sat on one of the 'colored' seats.

After some time, the driver noticed that the bus was full and four white passengers were standing. He stopped the bus and asked four black passengers to vacate their seats for white people. One of them was Parks. While the others cordially obeyed the driver, Parks refused to get up. As a punishment for her denial, she got arrested.

Later, in an interview, she said that she refused to get up not because she was tired of her work, but because she was tired of giving in.

After reading about the life of the famous American Civil Rights activist, also check facts about Rosa Parks family and facts about Rosa Parks.

World War-Related Accomplishment Of Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks inspired the black community to boycott the Montgomery bus services for over a year. Parks’ strict action and the Montgomery Bus Boycott became vital symbols of the American Civil Movement.

Her resistance against racial discrimination made her an international youth icon. Rosa Parks collaborated with the Civil Rights activists, Edgar Nixon as well as Martin Luther King Junior. Parks initiated the Civil Rights movement in the United States of America and hence she is known as 'the mother of the Civil Rights movement'.

The Montgomery bus boycott, which was launched by the Montgomery Improvement Association and led by Sir Martin Luther King, Jr., succeeded eventually. The boycott caused the desegregation of the Montgomery city buses. It laid a fierce beginning for the American Civil Movement.

During the Montgomery bus boycott movement, Rosa Parks lost her job. But, that didn’t affect her courage.

The movement led by Sir Martin Luther King Jr Was brought to an end only when the Supreme Court of the United States of America declared that the segregation of buses on account of racism is unconstitutional.

After the success of this movement, Parks became a national symbol of strength, passion, and dignity in her effort to develop a racism-free nation.

Development Related Accomplishment Of Rosa Parks

In 1932, Rosa Parks married Raymond Parks who was a barber by profession, and then, the two of them joined the Montgomery National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP). At the time when the bus incident took place, Rosa Parks was the secretary of the local NAACP. She remained the secretary for 12 long years (1943-1956).

In the early years of the '40s, she founded the Montgomery NAACP Youth Council. Later, she was appointed as the secretary of the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP. During those days, she traveled all around the state interviewing the victims of racial discrimination and eyewitnesses of mob lynching.

During the Montgomery Bus Boycott (Montgomery Chapter) when Parks lost her job as a seamstress, she started receiving death threats. She didn’t care about herself but she didn’t want her family to suffer because of her activism. So, in 1957, she moved to Detroit Michigan with Raymond Parks.

But, being the fearless lady that she was, Parks founded ways and continued to remain an active member of the NAACP. Parks also worked for John Conyers who was a congressman between 1965-1988, along with whom she helped homeless people to find a home themselves.

In 1987, Rosa Parks together with her husband Raymond Parks, established the Institute Of Self-Development wherein they offered job training to the young people who belonged to the black community.

She received the Congressional Gold Medal of Honour in 1999 which used to be the highest civilian honor for a citizen of the United States. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) sponsors a Rosa Parks Freedom Award every year even today.

Community-Related Accomplishment Of Rosa Parks

Even when Rosa Parks and her activist partners were able to end racial discrimination on the bus services of Montgomery, Parks was dissatisfied. She wanted to completely end racial discrimination in America. Black Americans were still not given the respect and the quality that they demanded and deserved, it made her immensely unhappy.

After her death in 2005, her body was placed in the US Capitol where even after two days after her death, people poured in to express their gratitude to this distinguished Civil Rights advocate. She became the first black woman and second African American to receive this honor.

Who was Rosa Parks?

Rosa Parks is one of the most well-known Civil Rights activists in America. Her refusal to let go of her seat on a public bus led to the infamous Montgomery Bus Boycott in the year 1955-56.

This led to the Civil Rights revolution in the USA.

She also won the nonviolent peace prize with national support for helping in youth development besides the supreme court ruling, the congressional gold medal, the international freedom conductor award, and the presidential medal of freedom from President Bill Clinton. Rosa and her family were also subjected to nonviolent forms of racism.

Rosa attended a school in Pine Level that practiced segregation having one teacher for around 60 students.

She made sure that there is equal justice for people of color not only in city buses (segregated buses) but also in the rest of the world. She helped in Civil Rights education. She introduced a public transit system for bus tours and the underground railroad.

She made sure there is a city ordinance for equal justice for people of color (she made sure that there was racial equality and no racial segregation) not only on Montgomery's city buses or any other public transportation for African Americans but for people throughout the world with the Civil Rights movement.

She also wrote her autobiography 'Rosa Parks My story'.

NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) awarded rosa parks and she even has her name in the Michigan women's hall. Michigan women's hall of fame has a history of all women who've strived hard and successfully achieved what they aimed for.

She co-founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development in 1987 to give career training to young people and to teach them about the Civil Rights movement's history.

The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development headquarters are in Detroit, Michigan, and Washington, DC, respectively. The institute's mission was to 'teach and motivate kids and adults, particularly African Americans, to better themselves and their communities.'

Defense-Related Accomplishment Of Rosa Parks

After moving to Detroit, Parks worked on the staff of Michigan Congressman John Conyers, Jr. From 1965 to 1988.

Her work was acknowledged with various awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1996), Congressional Gold Medal (1999), and many others. She also wrote her autobiography with Jim Haskins in 1992. Her autobiography(the Rosa Parks story) - Rosa Parks My Story was liked and appreciated by readers from all across the world.

Rosa Parks also played a key role in gathering support for the rape victim Recy Taylor. It was because of her efforts that the incident was brought to national notice. She has been entitled as the 'first lady of Civil Rights' and 'the mother of the freedom movement' by the United States Congress.

Her first major involvement in the field of defense was in 1931 when she helped in organizing the defense of the Scottsboro Boys who were nine African American teenagers. The boys were erroneously indicted for raping two American women on a train.

Economic Growth-Related Accomplishment Of Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks co-founded the Rosa L. Parks Scholarship Foundation in 1980 which awards scholarships to Michigan high school seniors. Today, the foundation has benefited more than 900 applicants by awarding over $1.8 million to students as a scholarship.

Rosa spent most of her days in Michigan, fighting against inequality and racial discrimination. Parks also expanded her activism by including equality for women and women empowerment. She joined the branch of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) in Detroit and in 1971, she was a serving Vice President of the group.

Rosa Parks was named one of the hundred most influential and iconic figures of the 20th century by Time magazine.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for the accomplishment of Rosa Parks then why not take a look at Interesting Facts About Teddy Roosevelt, or Teddy Roosevelt's presidency?