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Essay / Rosa Parks: Courageous Acts of Defiance to End Discrimination in America
Rosa Parks: My Story is an autobiography written by Rosa Parks herself alongside Jim Haskins, an African-American author. It was dedicated to his mother, Leona McCauley, and her husband, Raymond A. Parks. Rosa Parks is best known for courageously taking a stand against a white man on a segregated bus. This book focuses not just on one of her courageous acts of defiance, but all of them, while telling us more about her life story and her fight to end discrimination. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayRosa Parks grew up in her grandparents' house in Pine Level, Montgomery County, Alabama. His mother, Leona Edwards, was a teacher and his father, James McCauley, was a carpenter and builder. Rosa was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama, and has a younger brother named Sylvester. His family moved several times, but ended up in Pine Level. Her father left to look for work and she didn't see him again until she was an adult and married. She lived with her mother's family, and her grandfather instilled in the family that none of them should "put up with anyone's bad treatment." From then on, the council stuck with him. Rosa Parks grew up in her grandparents' home in Pine Level, Montgomery County, Alabama. His mother, Leona Edwards, was a teacher and his father, James McCauley, was a carpenter and builder. Rosa was born February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. She was a sick little child. She had a younger brother named Sylvester. Her family moved around a lot when she was younger, but ended up in Pine Level. Her father left to look for work and she didn't see him again until she was an adult and married. She had learned a lot about her mother's family history while living with them. His grandfather instilled in the family that none of them should “put up with mistreatment from anyone.” From then on, the advice stuck with him. Parks believed that because she had to protect her little brother, it helped her learn to protect herself. She also believed she knew what was right, but felt her attitude sometimes got her into trouble. Parks was still small at age 6 and suffered from chronic tonsillitis and slowed growth. She attended school at the only one-teacher black school in Pine Level. She knew how to read even before entering school with the help of her mother. Parks became very aware of her black and white peers around her. She also worked as a laborer in the fields picking and cutting cotton. Rosa's mother was her teacher until she was 11 years old. She was then sent to Montgomery Industrial School where she attended her first public school and had her first Caucasian teacher. Because of her tonsillitis, she had to leave school for a while, which cost her a year behind. Her mother paid her tuition to go to school, but Parks eventually had to become a scholarship student. When her mother discovered that she had to pass through white neighborhoods to get to school, she decided that Park should come back and move in with her cousins again. Montgomery's school taught her that she was "a person of dignity and self-respect, and that she should not aim for less than anyone else just because she was black." In 10th and 11th grade, she went to the Alabama State Teachers' College for blacks, but ended up dropping out at age 16. She returned to Montgomery and got her first "public" job. She was upset to havedropped out of school, but it was to help his grandmother. She then completed her studies after her marriage. A mutual friend introduced her to her husband. His name was Raymond Parks and he was a member of the NAACP. They were married in December 1932 in Pine Level, at her mother's house. She returned to school to get her degree and became a nurse's aide at St. Margaret's Hospital. In 1941, she got a job at Maxwell Field, the local Air Force base. Her husband was an activist, which she knew was extremely dangerous, but he didn't mind. Although it didn't bother her, when he went to his meetings, she often wondered if he would come home alive. In the South, blacks did not vote, so Rosa's husband became involved in voter registration. It was eventually first recorded in Detroit, Michigan. With high hopes, Rosa Parks attempted to register to vote, but was denied. She also tried a second time, but was told she was unsuccessful, with a specific reason as to why. Apparently, registrars could say and do anything they could to prevent blacks from not registering. During her second attempt to register to vote, she was kicked off a Montgomery city bus because she refused to follow the "special rules for blacks." The first front seats were reserved for whites and the rear seats for blacks. Black people boarded and paid their dues, but had to get off and enter through the back of the bus. Parks didn't feel the need to get off and enter from the back, so the bus driver got angry with her and told her to get off the bus. She did so, but she agreed to always look at the person driving the bus before getting back on because she didn't want to have another altercation with that same bus driver. She was a member of the NAACP and eventually became secretary. Its main role was to keep a record of any cases of discrimination, unfair treatment or acts of violence against black people. His other duties included recording and sending member payments to the national office, answering telephones, writing letters and sending press releases to newspapers. Many cases were dismissed and much of the story was lost. The reason for keeping them was to make it known that black people no longer wanted to be treated as second-class citizens. His brother, Sylvester, was drafted into the army in the early 1940s and had difficulty adjusting to returning home. . Many black World War II veterans attempted to register to vote, but were refused and treated with extreme disrespect, especially if they were in uniform. In 1949, Parks was secretary of the main branch of the NAACP and advisor to the NAACP Youth Council. Virginia and Clifford Durr wanted to help Park end segregation. She visited Highlander to attend the workshops and stayed for 10 days. Most of the workshops she attended focused on school desegregation. It was the rare time in her life that she felt no hostility from white people. A group of activists petitioned bus company officials and city officials. The petition asked for more courteous treatment and no visible signs of segregation. When Parks left her job on December 1, 1955, she refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. The bus driver was the same one who had kicked her out the first time, 12 years earlier. She was taken to prison. From that moment on, she never wanted to.