...Rosa Parks: Giver of Equality "Memories of our lives, of our works and deeds will continue in others." The woman who created this inspirational quote was none other than the astounding Rosa Parks. She is stereotypically remembered as a black lady who refused to give up her seat on a racist bus. This statement is only part of what Rosa accomplished; there is much more depth to her story than the common person is exposed to. Her achievements continue to impact the world today, decades after her story occurred. Rosa Parks was a powerful figure who benefitted society by engaging people in the actions of the Civil Rights Movement, inspiring others to stand up for what they believe in, and providing a positive example for women of color to follow....
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...Collective Action for Social Movements Rosa Parks gained the title “mother of the civil rights movement” when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white person (Loeb, 2010, p. 1). This was not Parks’ first involvement in a social movement. Before this event, Parks had been involved with her local NAACP chapter for 12 years. While attending a training camp on civil rights, Parks learned about a bus boycott by a Montgomery woman that occurred the previous spring. As you can see, Parks decision not to give up her bus seat did not occur on a whim. “Rather, she was part of a longstanding effort to create change” (Loeb, 2010, p.2). The social movement for African Americans’ rights was successful due to many people working together towards a common goal. Rosa Parks worked together with others such as E. D. Nixon, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Cars Porters union, local teachers, and the Montgomery African American community (Loeb, 2010). The Chicano Movement is another example of a united group and their long journey to accomplish rights for Mexican Americans. On the morning of March 3, 1968, over a thousand students walked down the streets of East Los Angeles (Muñoz, 1989). By the end of the day, ten thousand students had joined the movement. The protest “disrupted the largest school district in the nation” (Muñoz, 1989, p. xi). The protest lasted a week and a half. It was the first large scale protest of Mexican Americans and its major purpose was to “protest racist...
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...The Movement of The Past Throughout history, mankind has struggled to determine what is ethical and what is not. There are many leaders who stand out for their courageous efforts to change what was wrong with society to create a better place for posterity. These leaders go down in history as bold, brave heroes of our time and are looked upon for guidance. A more current movement than that of slavery, is the Civil Rights Movement, which still continues to have a huge effect on the United States of America, as well as other nations across the world. Two leaders that stand out and affect all of us personally are Malcolm X and Rosa Parks. These two distinct individuals broke away from the unjust laws and regulations that they had to abide by...
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...in goodness. In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, this elusive quality is displayed by John Proctor, and over two centuries later in 1955, we see it again in an African-American Civil Rights Activist, Rosa Parks. John Proctor is an honourable farmer from Massachusetts, USA, who after making the mistake of committing adultery with Abigail Williams, becomes caught up in the mass-hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. Rosa Parks is a Coloured-Rights Activist from Alabama, USA, who’s defiance of American Segregation Laws features as an important landmark of the Civil Rights Movement in the US. Themes such as justice and community, found within the play The Crucible and Rosa Parks’ story are universal, and apply as much today as they did in 1955 and 1692. In The Crucible, a single, small accusation of witchcraft escalates into a full-blown witch hunt, in which dozens of innocent citizens are accused and persecuted on the basis of false charges. This opportunity for allegations becomes a way for people to express their grudges and upset towards others, to show them how they feel by muffling it with all the similar claims around the community. Similarly, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat once, and yet the action presented a way for many others who were unhappy with the segregation circumstances to express how they felt, without being singled out in the community. She recalls, “At the time I was arrested I had no idea it would turn into this. It was just a day like any other day. The...
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...Civil disobedience is an active refusal to obey certain laws, commands, and demands of a government in a nonviolent way, in hopes to influence the government to change the rules and regulations they had put in place for a single group of people. Henry David Thoreau wrote a book titled "Civil Disobedience"; he wrote this book to protest slavery in the United States and the Mexican-American War. (Why Did Thoreau) He rebelled by not paying taxes because when he paid taxes the funds were going to both events he did not support at all. He stayed true to his morals so much so he was even put in jail for a night. The acts of Thoreau showed the Americans that if nobody spoke up, they could be stuck in the same unjust that they were used to living...
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...Cultural Characteristics of African Americans The largest minority population in America, African Americans helped to build the foundation and culture of the United States of America from the beginning. Separated from their original homeland and culture, Black slaves struggled to find a new identity, religion, language, and core set of family values. Despite hardships like slavery, segregation, lack of proper education, and divided families, African Americans created a unique, spiritual, and creative culture that thrives in modern times. Definition of African Americans The term African American refers to any Black American who is a citizen of the United States. Every Black American of African descent falls into this racial and cultural category. According to 2010 census data, they are the second largest demographic group after Whites and the largest minority population in America. History All people within the African American culture share the common history of enslavement, acculturation, and racial oppression. This history and cultural heritage provides a common bond that gives relevance to the African heritage. The most important historical bond is the recognition that most all African Americans descended from slaves. Slavery The first slaves were introduced to the English-American colonies by a Dutch trader. He sold 20 slaves to settlers in Jamestown, Virginia. After this initial trade the larger global trade pattern between Europe, Africa, and...
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...Rosa Parks: A Life of Influence Marked by One Act of Defiance Rosa Parks, birth name Rosa Louise McCauley, was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. She was a very precocious and observant child, noticing from a young age that a discrepancy existed in the way blacks and whites were treated. When she was 10 years old, she held up a brick to protect herself from a young white boy who was threatening to hit her. Her early acts of defiance were considered punishable by Rosa’s grandmother, despite the fact that Rosa was only engaging in self defense. It wasn’t until much later that Rosa came to realize that her grandmother was only protecting her because in that time, “black people could get beaten or killed for having that attitude.”[1] When Rosa began attending school, she noticed segregation for the first time; black children went to different schools than white children and the “black” schools were far inferior in every way. As she was a young child, Rosa had not done much research but was aware of racism and hatred that black people endured. Although Rosa Parks is widely known for beginning the civil rights movement when she refused to give up her seat on a public bus for a white passenger, this iconic moment is of relative importance when compared to her lifetime of influential decisions and actions that resulted in equality for blacks. Rosa Parks began her journey as a woman of influence when she met Raymond Parks, her future husband. Parks was the first activist...
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...shaped not only our country, but many other nations around the world as well. This paper is an attempt to reveal and speculate on some of these important events. 1950’s A growing amount of American people began to speak out about inequality and injustice during the 1950’s and the Rosa Parks bus incident is a perfect example. On December 1, 1955, a 42 year old African American woman who worked as a seamstress named Rosa Parks boarded a Montgomery, Alabama city bus to go home from work. On that bus that day, Rosa Parks started a new era in the American quest for equal rights (Rosa Parks Bus, 2002). Parks sat toward the middle of the bus, right behind the 10 seats that were reserved for white people. The bus ended up getting completely filled up and when a white man that entered the bus did not have a seat, the driver tried to make the four blacks sitting just behind the white section give up their seats so that the white man could sit down. Mrs. Park’s who was already a NAACP activist, quietly refused to do so. For disobeying the bus driver’s orders and not giving up her seat to the white man, she was arrested and convicted of violating segregation laws, which were known as “Jim Crow laws”. Mrs. Parks ended up appealing the conviction and challenging the legality of segregation in our country, and triggered a boycott of the Montgomery, Alabama bus system. In cities all throughout the south, segregated bus companies were constant reminders of the inequities of American society...
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...10/13/06 American History Essence Harden 5/2/00 African-American Civil Rights “Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.” –Coretta Scott King, page666 The 1960’s were a time of great turmoil in America and throughout the world. One of the main topics that arouse was black civil rights. In my essay I plan to compare the difference of opinion between these particular writers and directors, towards racism and the civil rights movement in the 1960’s The movement truly got underway with civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King jr. and Malcolm X in the early 1960’s. Students who wanted to bolt on the equality and protest bandwagon quickly followed. Most of the students went to the Southern states (Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, etc.), to stop the racism and hate crimes. The truth of the matter is that the violence and abhorrence would get worse before it got better. The Klan became stronger and more violent, committing many more lynching and gruesome murders. Bit by bit most of the Caucasian Americans came around to the idea of integration, and did not believe that the African Americans as a ‘threat’ anymore. The only reason that this great monumental change occurred was because of the great leadership of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King jr., and not to mention the thousands of other less famous civil rights leaders, that worked to change the views of their community. There also where lobbyist and protesters...
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...The Montgomery bus boycott changed the way people lived and reacted to each other. The American civil rights movement began a long time ago, as early as the seventeenth century, with blacks and whites all protesting slavery together. The peak of the civil rights movement came in the 1950's starting with the successful bus boycott in Montgomery Alabama. The civil rights movement was lead by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who preached nonviolence and love for your enemy."Love your enemies, we do not mean to love them as a friend or intimate. We mean what the Greeks called agape-a disinterested love for all mankind. This love is our regulating ideal and beloved community our ultimate goal. As we struggle here in Montgomery, we are cognizant that we have cosmic companionship and that the universe bends toward justice. We are moving from the black night of segregation to the bright daybreak of joy, from the midnight of Egyptian captivity to the glittering light of Canaan freedom" explained Dr. King. In the Cradle of the Confederacy, life for the white and the colored citizens was completely segregated. Segregated schools, restaurants, public water fountains, amusement parks, and city buses were part of everyday life in Montgomery, Alabama “Every person operating a bus line should provide equal accommodations...in such a manner as to separate the white people from Negroes." On Montgomery's buses, black passengers were required by city law to sit...
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...The focus of UNCC100 is on the theme of the common good: how we think about what is needed in order for all people to flourish in society. UNCC300 shifts this focus from the social to the individual, although of course, we can never think about the individual without reference to the broader context of society. In this unit, we are going to consider what it means to be a human being, and more particularly, how we can understand the notion of human worth, or value. This is what we are referring to when we talk about human dignity. Activity 1 Complete some research on Rosa Parks . 1. Who was she? 2. What impact did Rosa Parks have on the US Civil Rights movement? 3. What impact do you think Rosa Parks has had on our understanding of human dignity today? 4. There have been numerous songs written about Rosa Parks. The Neville Brothers recorded “Sister Rosa” in 1989. Click the link to hear the song and follow the lyrics. http://pancocojams.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/two-songs-about-rosa-parks-lyrics.html Human dignity is probably a very familiar expression, because the concept is part of many conversations taking place in the contemporary world. At the same time, once we begin to think about it, we find that the basis of human dignity can be understood in a number of different ways. As David McCabe points out: Most discussions of important moral and political issues, along with our everyday reflections on how others should be treated, occur against a background assumption...
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...There were many prominent male figures in the Civil Rights Movement, such as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, or A. Philip Randolph. However, many women played a large role in the movement. Rosa Parks became the symbol of the Montgomery Bus Boycott when she refused to give up her seat. Ella Baker helped form both the SNCC and the SCLC. Frances Beal brought up the issue of the exploitation of black women in America’s economic system. The role of gender was still an issue, as it was men who held more leadership positions. Without the involvement of women in the movement, charismatic leadership would have been the main way of leadership, and there would not have been as much group-centered leadership. The involvement of women in the movement brought...
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...alive, he had brought non-violent Marches to helped fight for African-Americans.”Martin Luther King Jr with a number of civil rights and religious groups to organize the ‘ March On Washington’ for jobs and freedom”(Martin Luther ). Martin Luther King Jr, religious groups and other civil leaders used this March to show how African-American injustices that they face around the United States. The issue with segregation in alabama came to supreme court and later segregation became ban.“in 1956, he helped to organize a bus boycott in montgomery, after...
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...The Civil Rights Movement Sharon L. Jordan HUM410 Contemporary History Instructor: Lila Griffin-Brown October 16, 2011 African Americans’ efforts to stop the segregation of trains and streetcars, the organizations created to contest Jim Crow laws, and segregationists’ attempts to silence the protests all provide rich testimony to the spirit of agitation present even in this bleak time in American history (Kelley, 2010, p.5). The Civil Rights Movement was a struggle by African Americans in the mid-1950s to late 1960s to achieve civil rights equal to those of whites, including equal opportunity in employment, housing, and education, as well as the right to vote, the right of equal access to public facilities, and the right to be free of racial discrimination (Law, 2005). This movement sought to restore to African Americans the rights of citizenship guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The words civil rights often raise images of Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his soul-stirring “I Have a Dream” speech before the nation’s capital. "The practical cost of change for the nation up to this point has been cheap," Martin Luther King Jr. conceded “(LITWACK, 2009). Martin Luther King Jr., and other leaders of the movement anticipated, the movement provoked gains not only for African Americans but also for women, persons with disabilities, and many others. Organized efforts by an African American, W.E.B. Du Bois, who exhorted blacks to fight for the rights was...
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...it makes them, them. Culture is more than identity and it has the ability to be very powerful, so powerful it can influence and actually start a movement. Culture is important for the development of movements. “Culture implies our striving – it is our striving.” (Keita, 12) Not only does culture thrive for striving, but it helps fight for freedom. “By culture, we understand all… behaviors and attitudes accumulated by the People both through and by virtue of its struggle for freedom from the hold and domain of Nature, and also through and by virtue of its effort to destroy deviationist politics – social systems of domination and exploitation… process of its life.” (Keita, 12) For short, culture can bring people together to fight for freedom and for other reasons. Some ethnicities’ culture is stronger than others. African-Americans are a prime example of an ethnicity whose culture is extremely strong. They hold their culture close to their hearts and they express their culture vibrantly. They stand tall behind their culture and speak proudly of it. African-Americans used their culture to make a change; their culture brought them together to fight together. Their culture is what made them so strong and powerful. There are two important movements the African-Americans were involved in: The Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power Movement. Through these movements, the African-Americans were able to accomplish...
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