"Rosa Louise McCauley" (born February 4, 1913), best known by her married name "Rosa Parks", is a retired seamstress who is noted as being a very important American civil rights movement activist.

She was born in Tuskegee, Alabama and is most famous for her December 1, 1955 arrest for refusing a bus driver's order to give up her seat to a white man and stand in Montgomery, Alabama. She was arrested, tried, and convicted for disorderly conduct, and on appeal, the case ultimately resulted in the 1956 United States Supreme Court ruling that segregated bus service was unconstitutional.Her arrest was used by Baptist minister Martin Luther King, Jr. to lead the successful year-long Montgomery bus boycott and to help mount other protests against laws requiring racial segregation.Parks moved to Detroit in the early 1960s, where she continues to reside.

Although she is known for refusing to give up her bus seat, she was not the first to do so.Indeed, the NAACP had accepted and litigated other cases before, such as that of Irene Morgan, ten years earlier, which resulted in a victory in the Supreme Court on Commerce Clause grounds.That victory only overturned State segregation laws as applied to actual travel in interstate commerce, e.g. interstate bus travel.The Rosa Parks case is considered "the" landmark because it applied to all segregationist laws, not just those affecting interstate commerce.

The NAACP had additionally considered but rejected some earlier protesters deemed unable or unsuitable to withstand the pressure of a legal challenge to segregation laws (See Claudette Colvin, Mary Louise Smith). The selection of her for a test case supported by the NAACP has been speculated to be in part because she was employed by the NAACP.

She served on the staff of U. S. Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan) from 1965-1988.

After a lifetime of activity fighting racism, Parks was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999. (Other protesters did not receive this medal).

The Rosa Parks Library and Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, was dedicated in November 2001. It tells the story of the events leading up to her historic act of civil disobedience, and how her simple act connects to the larger tapestry of the civil rights movement.

The Rosa Parks Highway is named after her.

Lawsuit Against OutKast

For information on her lawsuit against OutKast see OutKast.

External link

* The Rosa Parks Library and Museum at TSUM

Parks, Rosa

---

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html for details. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Rosa Parks.

---

 Rosa Parks in the News
1. Lawyer for rosa parks says dementia prevents her from testifying in suit - Courttv.com - People - - www.courttv.com
Updated Sept 22 2004 10 48 a m ET Lawyer for rosa parks says dementia prevents her from testifying in suit DETROIT AP Civil rights pioneer rosa parks has dementia and should not be forced to answer questions in her lawsuit over a rap song named

2. Lawyer Says rosa parks Unable to Testify - 22 Sep 04 - ABC News
Lawyer Says rosa parks Unable to Testify

3. Civil rights icon can sue OutKast - 08/12/2003 - BBC News
US civil rights icon rosa parks wins the right in court to proceed with her case against rap duo OutKast.

4. rosa parks suffers from dementia - - The Chicago Sun Times
rosa parks suffers from dementia September 23 2004 DETROIT Civil rights pioneer rosa parks has dementia and should not be forced to answer questions in her lawsuit over a rap song named for her her lawyers said in a court filing parks 91 rarely

5. Doctor: rosa parks Suffers From Dementia - 22 Sep 04 - ABC News
Doctor: rosa parks Suffers From Dementia

6. Civil rights icon renews rap fight - 13/05/2003 - BBC News
Civil rights icon rosa parks is given permission to sue rap group OutKast for using her name on their hit record.

7. Lawyer: rosa parks Has Dementia - - www.cbsnews.com
> ET * Lawyer rosa parks Has Dementia DETROIT Sept 22 2004 Photo CBS AP rosa parks in 1998 Photo AP Big Boi and Andre 3000 from OutKast accept the award for video of the year for their song Hey Ya during the BET Awards in June Photo AP CBS

8. rosa parks' Lawyer Says She Has Dementia - 22 Sep 04 - ABC News
rosa parks' Lawyer Says She Has Dementia

9. Film producers sorry for jokes - 24/09/2002 - BBC News
The producers of hit US film Barbershop apologise for including a series of jokes about civil rights leaders.

10. America, values, relationships and contradictions - - Pravda
America values relationships and contradictions - PRAVDA Ru Latest news * * * * * Fun Story * * * * * * * * * * Search Web english pravda ru Subscribe Lists at Comments From PRAVDA Ru Information Partners Statistic Hosted By    America values

---

 Rosa Parks on the Web
1. Girl Power! rosa parks
1998 article commemorates parks' 85th birthday and tells the story of her life.
http://www.girlpower.gov/girlarea/gpguests/rosaparks.htm Open Directory, Google, MSN, Hotbot, Alltheweb, Yahoo Sites

2. rosa parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
provides a general overview of the boycott set off by rosa parks on December 1, 1955.
http://www.holidays.net/mlk/rosa.htm Yahoo Sites, Open Directory, MSN, Hotbot, Alltheweb

3. Academy of Achievement: rosa parks Biography
rosa parks. Pioneer of Civil Rights. BIOGRAPHY. b. February 4, 1913. Most historians date the beginning of the modern civil rights movement in the United States to December 1, 1955. ... rosa parks was born rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama to James McCauley, a carpenter, and Leona McCauley, a ...
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0bio-1 MSN, Hotbot, Alltheweb, Google, Open Directory

4. rosa parks - Pioneer of Civil Rights
includes profile, biography, interview, and photos.
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0pro-1 Yahoo Sites, MSN, Hotbot, Alltheweb

5. rosa parks
rosa parks. The Woman Who Changed. a Nation. By Kira Albin, interview conducted in 1996. Photos courtesy of Monica Morgan Photography and ZondervanPublishingHouse ... When rosa parks refused to give up her seat to a white man forty years ago on December ... that fateful day. rosa parks was physically tired, but no more ...
http://www.grandtimes.com/rosa.html MSN, Hotbot, Alltheweb, Yahoo Sites

6. rosa parks Portal
A primary source for rosa parks Web Resources. ... rosa parks. The rosa parks Portal is intended to be the web resource directory for all rosa parks sites online. ...
http://www.e-portals.org/parks MSN, Hotbot, Alltheweb

7. TSUM: The Life of Mrs. rosa parks
... The Life of rosa parks. rosa Louise McCauley was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama to ... the Troy State University Montgomery rosa parks Library and Museum to be ...
http://www.tsum.edu/museum/parksbio.htm MSN, Hotbot, Alltheweb

8. rosa parks Biography
includes timeline, childhood, and information about the Montgomery bus boycott.
http://rosaparks.netfirms.com/ Yahoo Sites, MSN, Alltheweb

9. My Story: rosa parks
... rosa parks, "The Mother of the Modern-day Civil Rights Movement," describes her pivotal role in the Montgomery Bus ...
http://teacher.scholastic.com/rosa MSN, Hotbot, Alltheweb

10. Meet rosa parks
rosa parks's arrest for breaking Montgomery segregation laws started a boycott of the city bus line that lasted 381 days. ...
http://teacher.scholastic.com/researchtools/articlearchives/honorml... Google, MSN, Alltheweb

11. The Glass Ceiling Biographies - rosa parks
Introduction. On December 1, 1955, rosa parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man who wanted it. ...
http://www.theglassceiling.com/biographies/bio26.htm Google, MSN, Alltheweb

12. TIME 100: rosa parks
... CORBIS. rosa parks in Montgomery, Ala., on Dec ... three years old when a white bus driver warned rosa parks, "Well, I'm going to have you arrested," and she replied ...
http://time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/parks01.html MSN, Hotbot, Alltheweb

13. TSUM: rosa parks Library and Museum
Additional Information. The. Troy State University Montgomery. rosa parks Library and Museum. In Honor of Courage. The Struggle... The seamstress was Mrs. rosa parks. The act of disobedience was refusing to yield her seat on a ... the course of history. rosa parks is a symbol to all Americans ...
http://www.tsum.edu/museum MSN, Hotbot, Alltheweb

14. rosa parks Elementary School
Information and links about our school namesake rosa parks, site's mission, bell schedule, recess schedule, policies, staff roster, parent room information ...
http://parks.sandi.net/ Google, Alltheweb

15. My Story: rosa parks
Students read an interview with rosa parks and use an interactive timeline. ...
http://teacher.scholastic.com/rosa/ Google, Yahoo Sites

16. TSUM: rosa parks Library and Museum
Biography, Montgomery Bus Boycott, and photographs.
http://www.tsum.edu/museum/ Open Directory, Yahoo Sites

17. rosa and Raymond parks Institute for Self Development
encouraging youth to reach their highest potential through the rosa parks philosophy of quiet strength.
http://www.rosaparks.org/ Yahoo Sites, Alltheweb

18. rosa parks (Cloze Activity) - EnchantedLearning.com
rosa parks: Cloze Activity Fill in the blanks below using the word bank. ...
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/aframer/parks/cloze.shtml Google, Alltheweb

19. blackhistory.eb.com/micro/712/99.html
Shawn Landden [& Chris Bowen]’s biography of rosa parks is recommended reading for all who aspire to a successful democracy today. ...
http://blackhistory.eb.com/micro/712/99.html Google, Alltheweb

20. Santa rosa Lake
A high plains Pecos River reservoir, offers a variety of water sports and fishing.
http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/nmparks/PAGES/parks/SANTA/Santa.htm Open Directory, Yahoo Sites