While refusing to give up her seat on the bus may have seemed like a small act, Rosa Parks played a major role in providing momentum to the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s. Here are some facts you may not have known about activist Rosa Parks.
Early Activist
Prior to her famous defiance on the bus, Parks had already been involved in the Civil Rights Movement for quite some time. Since 1943, Parks was a of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In fact, she was the secretary of the Montgomery, Alabama chapter of the NAACP at the time of her arrest.
Not the First Encounter
When bus driver James Blake attempted to get Parks to vacate her seat, this actually wasn’t their first encounter. Previously, Blake had told Parks to re-enter the bus from the back after she had entered from the front in order to pay her fare. “After that, I made a point of looking at who was driving the bus before I got on,” Parks admitted.
Misconceptions
While many thought that Parks was sitting in the whites-only section of the bus, this was not the case. When a white person was unable to get a seat in the white section because it was full, the bus driver commanded Parks to leave her seat. The brave young woman refused to give in.