Rosa Parks: Beyond the Bus – Unraveling the Threads of Her Timeless Legacy

Rosa Parks: Beyond the Bus – Unraveling the Threads of Her Timeless Legacy

Rosa Parks was born in February 1913 as Rosa Louise McCauley. She is better known for her determined spirit which was nurtured from the time she was young by her mother and grandparents. All I know is that Rosa was one stubborn woman who refused to take bullying and discrimination while lying down. I know for a fact that if she hadn’t pulled that stunt, things wouldn’t have changed so much.

After she got married to Raymond Parks and helped him organize the defense of the nine Scottsboro boys who were falsely accused of rape, Rosa Parks never looked back as far as fighting for one’s rights is concerned. Her earlier writings have also revealed that her “determination never to accept it, even if it must be endured,” led her to “search for a way of working for freedom and first-class citizenship.” She became secretary of the Montgomery branch of NAACP and continued to work there for the next decade. Popularly known for her refusal to move to the back of the bus during the segregation period in the U.S., it doesn’t mean that everything was solved right at that moment. So let’s unravel the threads of her timeless legacy that has come to be quite known.

1. Her arrest led to a community bus boycott

Gene Herrick for the Associated Press; restored by Adam Cuerden, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Park’s writings reveal that even as she was refusing to move at the back of the bus so that a white passenger could sit, she was well aware that  her move would lead to her being “manhandled but I was willing to take the chance … I suppose when you live this experience … getting arrested doesn’t seem so bad.” Her arrest in 1955, sparked a community bus boycott and Parks laboured so much to maintain the protest. Part of the boycott was maintained for more than a year and this was through an elaborate, labour-intensive carpool system. For a month, Parks served as a dispatcher, while working to sustain the protest and exhorting riders and drivers to keep going. In her instructions to carpool riders and drivers, she wrote, “Remember how long some of us had to wait when the buses passed us without stopping in the morning and evening.”

2. She and her husband lost their jobs early on in the boycott

John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Both Rosa and Raymond unfortunately lost their jobs earlier on in the boycott, they also developed health problems and were never able to find steady work in Montgomery ever again. Hence, in the summer of 1957, they were forced to move to Detroit, to join her brother and extended family. For a moment, she worked as a hostess at an inn in Virginia’s Hampton Institute but homesickness and sadness made her leave the position and return to Detroit in late 1958.

3. Rosa and her family had a difficult time even making rent after moving back to Detroit

The Archivists @ pflegerarchives.org, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

One would think that after the popularity and fame, and the refusal to move to the back of the bus, Rosa and her family would be in a better situation financially speaking. Unfortunately, after moving back home in 1958, the following year (1959), she and her family moved into the Progressive Civic League to serve as the building’s caretakers. They however had difficulty making rent or even affording a refrigerator and Rosa’s health deteriorated, landing her in the hospital. She wasn’t able to work steadily again until 1965.

4. Park’s political efforts continued long after the bus incident

Rebecca Roth, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

After the bus incident, Park’s political efforts continued and she even protested housing segregation, participated in Detroit’s Great March for Freedom, and also attended the March on Washington in August 1963. In 1964, Parks volunteered on John Conyers’ first congressional campaign for Michigan’s first district on a platform of “Jobs, Justice, Peace” and after getting elected to Congress, Conyers hired her to work in his Detroit office. He was her beacon of hope because Parks remained under his employ until her retirement in 1988.

5. Her political activities in Detroit were more diverse than in Montgomery

John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Detroit was plagued with racial discrimination and social inequity and Rosa’s work along with her experiences in the city made her so aware of the issues ranging from poverty, job discrimination, and lack of access to health care to housing segregation, school inequality, and police brutality. Park’s works in Detroit became more diverse where she worked on prisoner support and helped run the Detroit chapter of the Friends of SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee). She took part also in the growing movement against U.S. involvement in Vietnam and traveled regularly to take part in the Black Power movement across the country. She did so much and in 1974 when asked by a reporter from Sepia magazine how she managed to do so much, she answered, “I do what I can.”

6. Parks started an institution with a long-time friend

John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1987, Rosa Parks and her long-time friend, Elaine Steele started the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development. It is an institute that to date continues to educate the youth about the struggle for civil and human rights. She managed to start something that to date is making a difference and that is what makes the legacy of Rosa Parks so meaningful in the history of African- Americans.

7. The Library of Congress received a 10-year loan for Park’s collection

Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 2014, the Library of Congress received a 10-year loan from the Rosa Parks Collection. The businessman and philanthropist, Howard Buffett had purchased the collection which was languishing in an auction warehouse for years to ensure that the public would benefit from the historical record of Park’s life.

8. She found a collectible in a drugstore bag in her elderly age

John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

One time in a drugstore bag in her collection, an elderly Parks found a collectible with the words, “The struggle continues.” She couldn’t help but doodle over it over and over again because her struggle lasted a lifetime as the collection at the Library of Congress reveals. She fought on even when she didn’t have to and left quite a legacy behind.

9. Rosa Parks emerged as a symbol of hope and progress

John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Park’s actions as stated earlier had a huge significance and her role was a catalyst for the idea that change cannot be overstated. This was an ear characterized by deep-rooted prejudice and she managed to emerge as a symbol of hope and progress. Her refusal to accept a stereotyped status quo ignited a spark that led to very tangible legal and social reforms. Her legacy became a pivotal chapter in the racial equality war that is still ongoing.

10. She inspired a cultural and moral shift in African American culture

John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The more we get to learn about Rosa Parks, the more we realize and learn that her brave act did not just shake the foundations of segregation but also challenged societal norms and questioned the deeply rooted evil essence of prejudice. Her unwavering commitment to justice left a mark on the collective conscience of society and encouraged us to confront our biases and in turn strive for a more inclusive world

Parks is a symbol of heroism as far as human rights issues go. Her determination to refuse to bow down to a system that is so biased and discriminatory is so encouraging.