Today in American History
Activist Rosa Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1913.
In 1955, Rosa Parks courageously refused to give up her seat on a municipal bus to a white man, defying the discriminatory laws of the time. Her extraordinary dedication to civil rights continues to inspire. Show your commitment to equality for all with the Rosa Parks Forever® Stamp.
Rosa Parks name and image used under license with the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development.
If Rosa Parks was alive today, what would she think of our nation’s first black President, Barack Obama. Not only is she the catalyst for the entire civil rights movement, she is an American icon who championed a cause that was bigger than herself.
On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks was tired from a long days work, she boarded a public bus line in Montgomery, Alabama and was told by a white bus driver to sit at the back of the bus. The laws of the southern states in America at that time (Jim Crow), was for whites only to ride in the front of the bus, while black folks could only sit in the rear. No discount was provided to black people, it was a segregated south. This is where we take something for granted today, which we believe is a God given right to sit wherever we want, on any means of public transportation.
Rosa Parks sat in the front seat of the bus, and told the bus driver she will not move, she was arrested for something so simple as riding in the front seat of a municipal bus line. This was the start of the civil rights movement. After which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and other prolific African-American leaders rallied to her side.
She was tough as nails, and stood for the rights of many black people going through similar issues, issues that oppressed communities of men, women and children. The slaves were free, but segregation was a new chapter of the same book. Rosa Parks outlived both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, both prolific black leaders were assassinated, slain before they could see equality, as the way they all envisioned. Sadly, Rosa Parks passed away on October 24, 2005, just four years short of Barack Obama’s inauguration on the day of January 20, 2009, as the 44th President of the United States of America. We think she would be proud of how far we have come today, and we also believe she would know there’s much more work to be done. Civil rights are still being violated all over America to this very day, among the so-called minorities. The best way to cope with the madness of it all, is to keep moving forward, with dialogue and with compassion, with love and with truth. This is what our beloved Rosa Parks would want all people to accomplish, within this moment, and within this lifetime. That is why we call this American History, not just Black history because it’s for all mankind.
In 1997, the popular rap duo OutKast paid homage to Rosa Parks with track number 3, titled “Rosa Parks” on their Aquemini album, this high energy dance track consequently let off some steam concerning modern day issues of America’s black youth. Rosa Parks – by Rap Group OutKast – Aquemini Album. These modern day issues are not based on what restroom black folks are able to use, a whites only water fountain, or to sit in the back seat of a public transportation vehicle, but it’s based on hatred for minorities in America that still plague our nation, with discriminatory deeds, and actions that go against the principles and morals of humanity.
Within this new millennium, we as a nation need to rise up, take a stand and have a seat, just like Rosa Parks. Simply because we’re tired, not from work, but tired of the mistreatment, hatred, discrimination and police brutality that has been proven not to work. Communities work, not disdain from certain groups that keep this country alive and what it was meant to be, which it a melting pot of many beautiful colorful people. So we will always remember Rosa Parks, the first lady of the civil rights movement, Forever with a Stamp.