In December 1955, in Montgomery, USA, a black seamstress refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white passenger, even though this was required by regulations. Her name was Rosa Parks, and she has been called ‘the mother of the freedom movement’. February 4 is the 100th anniversary of her birth.
Municipal and state laws designed to separate the races were common in the South of the United States and Parks was arrested for her civil disobedience.
Outrage in Montgomery’s black community over her arrest sparked a boycott against the city's bus line – the so-called Montgomery Bus Boycott, considered as the beginning of the modern Civil Rights Movement.
The boycott ended over a year later, in December 1956, when the US Supreme Court ordered the desegregation of buses in Montgomery.
Tired of giving in
Referring to the episode on the bus, Parks said in her autobiography: “People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day (…) No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
Parks’ life was a long path of active struggle around human rights. She became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation and collaborated with civil rights’ leaders including Dr. Martin Luther King.
EI: Pursuing the rights and equality agenda
“Rosa Parks’ courageous life has much to teach and inspire us,” said EI President Susan Hopgood.
“As she once said: Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others. Indeed, EI will continue her struggle, addressing racial intolerance and xenophobia through education and the promotion of human and trade union rights and values. ”
You can find a complete lesson plan to teach students about Rosa Parks life and her role in the Montgomery Bus boycott here.