Biography: Rosa Parks

It’s interesting when examining someone’s entire life there are a few defining moments.  Looking at one of those defining moments, through the eyes of a child gives the world a simple and truthful observation.

Pictures around the classroom alerted visitors  to the fact that they had been learning about Rosa Louise Parks.

Interested to know what these first grader children though about  such an important person in history the questions was asked.
“Sarah, who is that in the picture?””Oh, she’s the bus lady and she is always happy.”

“Why is she always happy?”

“I don’t know, but she is smiling in every single picture.”

“Well then, Sara, why do you call her the bus lady?”

“There were some laws once that said different kinds of people had to ride in different parts of the bus. She thought the laws were dumb because she thinks people are more the same than different so she sat in the other part of the bus. The police had to arrest her because the law was the law. A lot of people thought she was right and so they changed the law. So I can sit where ever I want on the bus.”

Sara may not have had all the facts in order, but I believe Rosa would have been proud of the way she told the story. Not once did Sara mention color or race.  She didn’t even notice what the difference was.

Rosa was the first child of James and Leona Edwards McCauley.  She was born February 4th, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama.  She had a younger brother, Sylvester arrive three years later.

Her quiet determination on that bus and through the rest of her life made our world a better place. She and her husband were early activists for several causes. She paid special attention to the youth , striving to inspire them and help them grow.

She was a part of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She served as a secretary for the local branch and as local youth leader.

In 1997, she was listed among the 100 most influential people of the 20th century by Time magazine. Her legacy far outlives her many years on earth.  She was a deaconess in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Mrs. Parks was an author; an activist, a lady, a heroin and as Sara reminds us we may always remember her as “the happy bus lady.”