Rosa Parks Sparknotes

Rosa Parks: My Story, by Rosa Parks, is an autobiography in which Parks retells the events of her life as an African American girl living in the South before and through the Civil Rights Movement. The book is a great insight into what hardships and events that people in her situation had to face. The book begins with Parks explaining life as a small child. Her parents had married about a year before she was born. Her mother was a teacher and her father was a carpenter. Racial issues had existed since before Parks was born. She also shares about her grandparents and how during their days they had to face life as a slave. Whites in the South would force these poor people to work for them for little to no pay and whack living conditions. She
also recounts two different encounters with white men. When she was about six years old, a white soldier had visited her house and shook her hand, telling her she was the cutest little girl he had ever seen. She remembers realizing that there were some good white people. Another story she remembers was as she was walking home, a little white boy pushed her off the sidewalk she was walking on. She threatened the boy, but soon saw that his mother was watching. The mother screamed and threatened her, and Parks began to understand the times she was living in and how unfair it was. In the middle, Parks finds love and marries a barber, Raymond Parks.
Raymond also became a major NAACP and Civil Rights activist. She also shares his connection to the Scottsboro Boys case. Parks had organized a group of people to raise money for legal fees in the trial against the Scottsboro boys. The Scottsboro boys (who had never met each other before this case) were a group of nine young black boys who were accused of raping white women. It became a biased case and the case ended with eight of the nine sentenced to death in an electric chair. As time passed, white violence increased and life became more terrifying. Buses, schools, and water fountains had been separated for a long time, but now if an African American used a designated “white” facility, guns were drawn and handcuffs were clicked. She also tells the infamous story of the bus. Parks had ridden the bus like any other, but as the bus filled, one white man was left without a seat. The driver had demanded she give up her seat, but she refused to. She was arrested and put in jail and the incident presented an opportunity for Parks to be the plaintiff in a case against
segregation. The book ends with a wrap up of what happened after the incident. Bus boycotts lasted for weeks, and people started fighting back harder. Martin Luther King Jr. became involved, and Parks was indicted again for the bus boycotts. People were shot and killed for fighting for what they wanted. The Parks moved to Detroit soon after to stay safe, but her work didn’t stop there. Rosa was part of several marches and was at the infamous “I Have a Dream” speech, given by Martin Luther King Jr. Today, Parks remains recognized as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement.

Rosa Parks: My Story, written by Rosa Parks, is a nonfiction prose. Before reading, I was aware of Rosa Parks and her work as an activist, so I enjoyed reading about her story. The piece is informative, and each of the chapter titles and headings give precise indications about what lies ahead. While the book is not hard to read because of its style, it is hard to swallow its context as it is an emotional book to read and process because of its nature. My first impressions of the book had changed slightly by the end, only because I realized that there was a lot more to the Civil Rights Movement than I had known. This book contains many literary elements and techniques. While there is no specific plot, Parks develops these characters to show how they were involved in her life, for example, “Parks was very light skinned… working as a barber in a black barbershop… grew up in an all-white neighborhood … could have passed for white, but didn’t have white people’s hair.”, and then shares that he was, “a longtime member of the NAACP… he and a few others had gotten together to raise money to help pay for the legal fees [of the Scottsboro Boys case]”. She also gives the setting, “near Montgomery, Alabama” and “the South” as a helpful indicator of what life was like where she was. Also, her point of view in the story, for example, “I have influenced their lives in many ways,” helps to give a unique perspective into her life. Reading this book has enhanced my life by reminding me that though we still have a long way to go, we have progressed a lot in how we treat others and that we shouldn’t stop now.
Although that is my unprejudiced opinion, a lot of people won’t see the same way. I personally believe in the ideas that were presented and my appreciation for this subject has increased after reading and analyzing this book. I strongly encourage others to read this to realize what has happened and how much we as a nation have learned from it, regardless of what it looks like sometimes. Also, knowing of the author’s real life has helped me to understand the book better. I think this is probably more accurate than other books and unique in that it is a firsthand account of these
events. In conclusion, Rosa Parks: My Story was a great book that I learned a lot from. I think it was good for me to read so I could better understand America’s past and history. I encourage everybody to read this so they can become aware of what can and has happened through hate and, hopefully, understand that we should spread love and positivity without tearing others down based off of prejudices.