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Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela shared many values and goals, and both cared deeply about youth. Mandela met Parks in Detroit, Michigan, in 1990 when Mr Mandela toured the United States after his release from prison.
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Rosa Parks.jpg
Rosa Parks
In 1950s America black people were treated unfairly. One person who tried to change this was Rosa Parks. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was tired of having to give up her bus seat and she said “No” to a white person. This started the Montgomery bus boycott. The bus boycott was only meant to last for one day. In the end it lasted over a year, until the law was changed.
External Link Icon Who was Rosa Parks?
External Link Icon The life and works of Rosa Parks
External Link Icon Horrible Histories - Rosa Parks - I Sat on a Bus Song
External Link Icon The National Geographic Kids - Rosa Parks
External Link Icon BBC Bitesize - Astonishing Activists - Rosa Parks
The Rosa Parks Story
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was born on February 4, 1913. An African American civil rights activist, she was appropriately named by the United States Senate “the mother of the freedom movement” and “the first lady of civil rights.” The events that filled her life have made her a lasting icon of human rights.
“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.” – Rosa Parks
Parks’ legacy began in Montgomery, Alabama, on December 1, 1955, when she refused to obey the demands of a city bus driver, James F. Blake, that she give up her seat in the colored section of the bus to a white passenger due to a scarcity of seats.
“When that white driver stepped back toward us, when he waved his hand and ordered us up and out of our seats, I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter night.”
“He asked me why I didn't stand up... I told him I didn't think I should have to stand up. So I asked him: 'Why do you push us around?' And he told me, 'I don't know, but the law is the law and you are under arrest.'” – Rosa Parks.
Parks was charged with violating the Montgomery City code, however she had not actually disobeyed any law. She had been seated in the assigned black section of the bus when asked to give up her seat.
On December 4, 1955, a front page story in the Montgomery Advertiser and announcements at local black churches encouraging people to band together for desegregation catapulted the Montgomery Bus Boycott into what would be one of the most successful movements for desegregation, marking Parks as a symbol of the American Civil Rights movements and changing the lives of many world over. "I only knew that, as I was being arrested, that it was the very last time that I would ever ride in humiliation of this kind," Parks said.
She worked in collaboration with many other prominent figures of her time, including Martin Luther King, Jr., and Edgar Nixon, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
In 1965, after the boycott had ended, Parks was hired as the secretary of John Conyers, an African-American U.S. Representative. She was employed by Conyers for 23 years until her retirement. Like many before him, Conyers was touched by Parks, and described her as someone you treated “with deference because she was quiet, so serene – just a very special person.”
Parks was selected as one of the people to meet Nelson Mandela upon his release from prison in 1994. She was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton in 1996 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997 – the highest Congressional award. She passed away on October 24, 2005, at the age of 92.
Rosa Parks made a vast and intangible impact on the course of black history and human rights. She touched many nations, races, and creeds, and undoubtedly her legacy will affect many generations to come.
“Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.” – Rosa Parks.
Nelson Mandela.jpg
Nelson Mandela
In South Africa white people had more rights than black people. Mandela believed that everybody should be treated the same. He fought for change, but he was put into prison for 27 years. When he left prison, Nelson Mandela wasn’t angry. He wanted peace. In 1994, aged 77, Nelson Mandela became the first black President of South Africa.
His negotiations in the early 1990s with South African Pres. F W de Klerk helped end the country’s aparteid system of racial segregation and ushered in a peaceful transition to majority rule. Mandela and de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993 for their efforts.