First Lady of Civil Rights Activist, hero, and respectful are three words people often think of in connection with Rosa Parks. Many people know Rosa Parks as a activist that stood up for African Americans civil rights, but she is so much more. Rosa Parks changed the world because she was one of many voices that started a movement that changed the lives of millions of people. She showed America that everybody deserves equality and respect. She left a legacy as America’s “ Mother of freedom movements.” Rosa Parks changed the world by giving voting rights to African Americans, she did this by noticing the amount of segregation in voting. For example the African Americans had to take a test to prove that they could vote,
but most people were denied because of the strong segregation.(Wilson 32) The Bus Boycott started Monday December 5, 1955, and was the boycott that Mrs Rosa Parks was most remembered for, it changed the way the world looked at segregation( Tribune online) . They would walk miles a day to gain equality for African Americans and the Montgomery buses. Rosa Parks early years were very interesting, she started small and became big because of her determination and strength. Rosa Parks was born February 4, 1913 (Wilson 6) , she grew up on a farm near Montgomery ( Freedman 24) , and married Raymond Parks at a very early age (Wilson 22). In her early years she would clean classrooms to pay her way through school, she sewed at the Montgomery Fair Department store, worked at a shirt factory, a hospital, and many other jobs. ( Freedman 25) Rosa Parks made a difference by fighting for equal rights for African Americans, she did this by interviewing African American citizens about beating or other violence, she tutored children and helped students get proper clothes and textbooks, and organized committees, meetings, and distributed notices to her local churches, and department stores. (Wilson 34) Before the Bus Boycott, Rosa Parks got arrested for not giving up her seat to a white man, she was arrested December 1, 1955. (Wilson 49) Rosa Parks truly proved that everybody deserves equality and respect, and she will always be remembered as “ Mother of all freedom movements”, who changed the world by being one of many voices that started a movement that changed the lives of millions of people. Rosa Parks was a hero of change by having courage and determination, for proving that all African Americans deserve equality. Perhaps if all people were like Rosa Parks, the world would be full of hope and determination.