When Rosa Parks refused to accept second-class citizenship on a Montgomery Alabama city bus, one of the most important moments in American civil rights history was born.
Today marks the 55th anniversary of Parks' defiant stand that launched her in to the pantheon of American greats, including Marcus Garvey, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King Jr.
Of all those black pioneers, Parks was, perhaps, the most unlikely to become a trailblazer.
A 42-year-old dressmaker planned on going to work as usual, when the driver of her bus triggered the fateful confrontation by telling Parks to give her seat to a white man on the rapidly filling bus.
Parks said no, got arrested and was convicted four days later for disorderly conduct.
Dr. King, at the unbelievably young age of 26, led a more than year-long boycott of the bus system by blacks.
The courts eventually desegregated public transportation, and in 1964, the Civil Rights Act desegregated public accommodations nationwide.
Parks, who died in 2005, received both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal - two of this nation's highest civilian honors - for her act of defiance.
And the honors are still rolling in.
Today, Google celebrated Parks with a doodle showing children running toward a bus.
And in Milwaukee, city buses are running their headlights all day and will have a sign on the front seat to honor Parks.
The dressmaker who made history hasn't been forgotten.
16-Nov-10 - Forty-five years after he was killed by an Alabama State Trooper, Jimmie Lee Jackson, whose death lead to the first civil rights march on Selma, he is finally getting a small measure of justice.
12-Nov-10 - In a case better suited for Judge Mathis, Paula Cook is proceeding with her civil suit against Fantasia Barrino for an antiquated legal cause of action called "Alienation of Affection" in a North Carolina court.
I REMEMBER READING IN THE DAILY NEWS ONE DAY THAT ROSA PARKS WASN'T THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN WHO REFUSE TO GIVE UP HER SEAT. I FORGOT THE WOMAN NAME BUT IT WASN'T MS. PARKS
Rosa Parks, like MLK, was just an actor. Her entire performance on the bus was planned ahead of time, with Communist party help.
Rosa Parks is not a person to be proud of.
The book, "Speak Now," a left-wing history of the civil rights movement, states that in August of 1955, (four months before the bus incident) Parks attended the Highlander Folk School in Mount Eagle, Tennessee. The "school" was started in 1932 by Myles Horton and James Dombrowski, both members of the Communist Party.
"Speak Now" states that the schools' original purpose was to train Communists activists on how to promote textile strikes, hold protest marches, picket lines and learn "socialist songs."
The Textile Workers Union was completely controlled by the Communist Party. "Speak Now," page 529 reads as:
"FBI surveillance of the Highlander Folk School and the Southern Conference Educational Fund, (SCEF) intensified. In 1952 Myles Horton would invest their energy and resources in the historic Southern struggle over desegregation of the public schools."
"Speak Now," says that Parks attended summer training at the Highlander Folk school in 1955, 1956 and 1957. She is pictured with Martin Luther King sitting on the front row in a Highlander training class on September 2, 1957. Thus, the liberals' story that she was just a "poor tired black seamstress" when she sat in the front of the bus is a total lie!
Yesterday on the bus I say a black woman give up her seat to an elderly white man. That was wonderful to see a non racist black person do a good deed. Too bad the media was not there to see how far we have gone in our great nation. God Bless America.
Rosa Parks didn't just start a movement fighting racism and segregation based on race. Her work, along with others who came along later, paved the way for a better society for many of the disenfranchised ... women, the disabled, even sexual minorities. So when folks say she was just a pioneer for the freedom of BLACK folks, they sadly understate it. She was a pioneer for the rights of ALL. God bless her, and Dr. Martin Luther King, and many others. I'm a witness. If not for these wonderful human beings, I might never have been able to go to college because I was born with a learning disABILITY and we were also treated poorly at one point. Civil rights is an ongoing process and we all should be participants.
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When Rosa Parks refused to accept second-class citizenship on a Montgomery Alabama city bus, one of the most important moments in American civil rights history was born.
Comments: (7)
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By: Juanita on 12/01/2010 6:03PM
I REMEMBER READING IN THE DAILY NEWS ONE DAY THAT ROSA PARKS WASN'T THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN WHO REFUSE TO GIVE UP HER SEAT. I FORGOT THE WOMAN NAME BUT IT WASN'T MS. PARKS
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By: Justice on 12/01/2010 6:54PM
Rosa Parks, like MLK, was just an actor. Her entire performance on the bus was planned ahead of time, with Communist party help.
Rosa Parks is not a person to be proud of.
The book, "Speak Now," a left-wing history of the civil rights movement, states that in August of 1955, (four months before the bus incident) Parks attended the Highlander Folk School in Mount Eagle, Tennessee. The "school" was started in 1932 by Myles Horton and James Dombrowski, both members of the Communist Party.
"Speak Now" states that the schools' original purpose was to train Communists activists on how to promote textile strikes, hold protest marches, picket lines and learn "socialist songs."
The Textile Workers Union was completely controlled by the Communist Party. "Speak Now," page 529 reads as:
"FBI surveillance of the Highlander Folk School and the Southern Conference Educational Fund, (SCEF) intensified. In 1952 Myles Horton would invest their energy and resources in the historic Southern struggle over desegregation of the public schools."
"Speak Now," says that Parks attended summer training at the Highlander Folk school in 1955, 1956 and 1957. She is pictured with Martin Luther King sitting on the front row in a Highlander training class on September 2, 1957. Thus, the liberals' story that she was just a "poor tired black seamstress" when she sat
in the front of the bus is a total lie!
http://www.martinlutherking.org/articles/rosaparks.html
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By: Judy on 12/01/2010 7:15PM
Yesterday on the bus I say a black woman give up her seat to an elderly white man. That was wonderful to see a non racist black person do a good deed. Too bad the media was not there to see how far we have gone in our great nation. God Bless America.
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By: randysrt10 on 12/01/2010 8:58PM
They wanted her off the bus because she smelled so bad, the other riders where getting sick.
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By: wb7ptr on 12/01/2010 10:47PM
Rosa Parks didn't just start a movement fighting racism and segregation based on race. Her work, along with others who came along later, paved the way for a better society for many of the disenfranchised ... women, the disabled, even sexual minorities. So when folks say she was just a pioneer for the freedom of BLACK folks, they sadly understate it. She was a pioneer for the rights of ALL. God bless her, and Dr. Martin Luther King, and many others. I'm a witness. If not for these wonderful human beings, I might never have been able to go to college because I was born with a learning disABILITY and we were also treated poorly at one point. Civil rights is an ongoing process and we all should be participants.
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By: Robert on 12/02/2010 5:11PM
All she did was sit down...
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By: jackduong on 12/02/2010 11:52PM
It's essentially a party song with the chorus telling the audience to party in the back of the bus. Big Boi focuses on the braggio effects of their music,
http://community.babycenter.com/journal/martinemily/3229553/muscle_x_edge_review
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