Notes

The bus boycott had lasted for 381 days, drawing international attention to the status of racial injustice in the American south.
After the bus boycott ended, Parks and her husband struggled to find work. They received many threats and were hounded with negative attention. In 1957, they moved to Virginia, and then to Detroit where her brother lived. Though she had achieved notoriety on the national stage, Parks had a hard time finding sustained employment. Local organizations took up collections to help Parks and her husband make ends meet.

After moving to Michigan, she met John Conyers, who would soon be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Conyers was one of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus; Rosa joined his staff in 1965 and worked for his office until 1988. In 1987, Parks co-founded the Rosa and Raymond Institute for Self Development in Detroit. The organization was devoted to mentoring young people and teaching them about civil rights issues.


Over the years, Parks gave countless talks and interviews, reflecting on her experiences as a Civil Rights pioneer. She received numerous awards and accolades, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. She also reflected on her life in an autobiography entitled Rosa Parks: My Story published in 1992; in this moving story, Parks provided context for readers to understand how and why she became politically engaged.

Parks lived alone after the death of her husband Raymond in 1977. In 1994, she made headlines when she was tragically robbed and attacked in her apartment by a young man named Joseph Skipper. Skipper, a drug addict, stole $53 from Parks in the attack. It was a very sad chapter in the life of a woman who had devoted her life to change. Parks was forced to move into a high rise apartment building for additional security.

In her later years, she struggled financially but continued to speak about her role in the Civil Rights Movement and offer advice to young people. In 1995, Parks was invited to attend the Million Man March by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, which she accepted. Given Farrakhan’s controversial views, many people felt that Parks must have been unaware of the complexities of her attendance at the march, but Parks gave a short and heartfelt speech. Among the things she said to the crowd, “I am proud of all groups of people who feel connected with me in any way, and I will always work for human rights for all people.

Parks passed away on October 24, 2005. She was honored with extensive funerals in Detroit, Montgomery, and Washington, D.C. In Montgomery and Detroit, front seats of buses were decorated with black ribbons in the days after her death. Parks became the first African-American woman to be honored in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. with a public viewing. Visitors flocked to the city to pay tribute to the woman who had become a Civil Rights hero to so many. She was buried in Detroit, placed between her husband and her mother in a mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery. Throughout the country, schools, highways, and buildings have been named after the women now known as the Mother of the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement. For those interested in reading more about Rosa Parks, see the newly released book, The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, by Jeanne Theoharis.


TAGSCIVIL RIGHTSROSA PARKSBLACK HISTORYMARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.HISTORY & CULTURE
BY KIM GILMORE
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