Rosa Parks

Born on February 4, 1913, in Alabama, to a teacher and a carpenter, Rosa was an ordinary child, in poor health, separated parents, shy, but still an ordinary girl. Married in 1932 to a barber, working as a hospital aide or as a domestic worker, she was nothing more than an ordinary woman. Rosa was an ordinary Black woman in the middle of the White domination. Rosa was a run-of-the-mill victim of racism and segregation. Rosa was a speck of dust in a white paradise… until she said no.

Well known all around the world as one of the most influential and iconic figures of the 20th century ; holder of the Spingarn Medal, the Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award, the Presidential   Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal ; the only thing she has wanted was to be considered as an ordinary woman. Actually, she was used to feeling like an ordinary woman. But she has become a heroine.

Once and for all, Rosa wanted to stand up. So she kept on sitting. Once and for all, Rosa wanted to know what rights she had as a human being. But she had none. So she said no: she said no to injustice, no to inequality, no to inhumanity, no to disrespect, no to contempt. Rosa said no to the White man who was telling her to give up the seat she had paid for, in a bus, on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery. Rosa said no to the man who was asking her to submit.

She decided to remain a human being, as she was told to feel like an animal. She decided to be brave and she was arrested. She decided to be brave and she lost her job. Against all odds, she decided to be brave on behalf of millions of suffering Black people. And it has paid off. She has become a symbol of freedom. She has become an international icon of resistance to racial discrimination. She had no children, but she has become the “mother of the freedom movement”.

Rosa Parks died on October 24, 2005. She has a posthumous statue of herself in the United States Capitol’s National Sanctuary Hall, a street of Detroit bearing her name, and several songs relating her story. But the only thing she wanted was to be seen as an ordinary human being.

Article by Anne Plassart