Back of the Bus

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On December 1st 1955, activist leader Rosa Parks was commuting home from a long day of work and refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man which led to an arrest for violating segregation laws. According to these segregation laws, the front of the bus was reserved for white citizens and the back was reserved for black citizens. It was custom that the bus driver had the authority to ask a black person to give up a seat for a white rider. On this day the driver had asked the four riders in the first row of the “colored” section to stand, in affect adding another row to the “white” section. Three of the others complied, while Rosa Parks did not. These actions helped initiate the civil rights movement in the United Stated and inspired the leaders of the local Black community to organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Parks stated in her autobiography, “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that wasn’t true. I was not tired physically….No, the only tired I was, was giving in.” Parks roots of activism did not start here, she worked as a seamstress and became a well-respected member of Montgomery’s large African American community. Co- existing with white people in a city governed by Jim Crow. However, segregation laws were filled with daily frustrations. Black people could only attend certain schools, use certain bathrooms, sit in certain areas and many other restrictions throughout the 20th century. Rosa also joined the Montgomery chapter on the NAACP and became the secretary. From this she was able to work closely with the chapter president, Edgar Daniel Nixon, who was also an advocate for black people who wanted to register to vote. Parks was not the first person to resist giving up her seat on a bus, many other people of color had done this before her. Her careful planning and lifetime work continued far beyond the Montgomery Bus Boycott to represent a stronger image of black uplift that represented advocacy for equality.

Bus

“People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that wasn’t true. I was not tired physically…. No, the only tired I was, was giving in.”