An Everyday Hero: African-American Rosa Parks

There are many different kinds of heroes. They do not have to be superheroes. Opportunities for heroism are found everywhere; they can even occur in everyday life. An example of a great everyday hero is African-American Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks did not have an easy life. She was born Rosa Louise McCauley on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her mother, Leona, was a teacher, and her father, James, was a carpenter. She had one younger brother, Sylvester (“Biography…”). For African-Americans, this was not an easy time in American history, particularly in the South. The South at that time was a “…place so segregated that African Americans could not eat, study, worship, or travel alongside whites” (Ashby 2). Life was made even harder for Rosa when her parents separated when she was still young. She, with her mother and brother, went to live at her grandparents’ farm in a nearby town. There Rosa attended a local school for African-American children where her mother was a teacher. In 1932, at about the age of 20. Rosa met and married
She battled for equality. A large number of African-American leaders decided to get together and boycott city buses. This meant they would not ride the buses, but instead travel in different ways. When Rosa was released from custody, she still attended civil rights meetings even after receiving threats (Biography…”). She became a symbol to fight for people’s rights no matter their color or race. After 381 days of boycott, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the laws of segregation were illegal. Rosa Parks was awarded many awards, such as the Congressional Gold Medal. She sadly died on October 24, 2005, at the age of ninety-two (“Rosa Parks” History). Today, Rosa Parks is honored by bother blacks and whites.

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