Rosa Parks - A Legend has Died but her Legacy Lives On

Rosa Parks - A Legend has Died but her Legacy Lives On

Rosa Parks has died. She will always be remembered as the civil right's legend that stood up for what she believed in. Freedom for herself and all human kind. She was born in 1913, and moved to Montgomery, Alabama working as an insurance sales woman, a seamstress, a wife and daughter to parents who had kept her away from racial segregation.

On Dec. 1, 1955 this strong yet shy and humble woman made famous history. The same bus driver from 12 years earlier that she had refused to listen to when he told her to re-enter the bus from the back after paying in the front to avoid walking past many white patrons again ordered her to give up her seat to a white passenger. She refused. The arrest for not giving up her seat started a 381-day boycott of Montgomery buses that launched the modern civil rights movement. At that time 70% of African Americans used the bus system in Alabama. The boycott was successful and it led to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that forced the integration of the city transportation system. It was called the Brown vs. The Board of Education Act.

Rosa Parks was 92 when she died in Detroit, Michigan today. She is not the first to stand up for her rights but she may be the first to inspire many and her legacy will live on. She will forever be remembered for doing what she believed in and, "She deserves the best seat to Heaven."

Posted: 11:32 p.m. EST October 24, 2005 by Anne Meesriyong