"Rosa Parks" (1913 – 2005) American civil rights activist

Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. She was the youngest of two daughters born to James and Leona McCauley. From a young age, Rosa was taught to stand up for what she believed in and to have confidence in her convictions.

Rosa Parks was a civil rights leader who famously refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. This act of defiance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and initiated the civil rights movement in the United States. At the time, African Americans were required by law to sit in the back of the bus, and give up their seats to white riders if the front of the bus was full. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, exhausted from a long day of work, refused to give up her seat to a white man and was arrested as a result. Rosa Parks' action sparked a 381-day boycott of the Montgomery bus system, led by a young minister named Martin Luther King Jr. The boycott ended when the Supreme Court ruled that segregated seating on public buses was unconstitutional. Rosa Parks' brave stand on the bus made her an icon of the civil rights movement. She was called the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement" and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996. Rosa Parks continued her activism throughout her life, volunteering with the NAACP and participating in the March on Washington in 1963. She also wrote a memoir, "Rosa Parks: My Story," in which she discussed her life before and after the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Rosa Parks passed away on October 24, 2005 at the age of 92. Her bravery and dedication to the civil rights movement has left an indelible mark on history. Her legacy has inspired generations of activists to stand up for their rights and to fight for justice.