BIOGRAPHY:
*Her action sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and her act of defiance became an important symbol of the modern Civil Rights Movement
*She refused to obey bus driver James Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger
*Parks became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation, and she organized and collaborated with civil rights leaders
*She recieved the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal and a posthumous statue in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall
Died: October 24, 2005 (aged 92) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks, age 42, refused to obey bus driver James Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger. At the time, the first four rows of bus seats were reserved for white people. Buses had "colored" sections for black people—who made up more than 75% of the bus system's riders—generally in the rear of the bus. Her action sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and her act of defiance became an important symbol of the modern Civil Rights Movement. Parks became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation, and she organized and collaborated with civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King, Jr., helping to launch him to national prominence in the civil rights movement. From 1965 to 1988 she served as secretary and receptionist to African-American U.S. Representative John Conyers. After retirement from this position, she wrote an autobiography and later became embroiled in a lawsuit filed on her behalf against American hip-hop duo OutKast which alleged that the song which they wrote bore Parks' name as its title and also objected to some of the song's obscene language. Faith in God was never the question for Rosa Parks; it was the answer. She believed that a heart filled with love could conquer anything, even bigotry. Rosa was Mulatto, which denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent or a person who has both black ancestry and white ancestry. Her Father, James McCauley, a carpenter, was part Scots-Irish and Creek Native American. Her Mother, a teacher, was an African-American. Parks eventually received many honors ranging from the 1979 Spingarn Medal to the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal and a posthumous statue in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall. Her death in 2005 was a major story in the United States' leading newspapers. Rosa Parks body was laid in state at the U.S. Capital Rotunda in Washington D.C. after her death. She was the first woman and second African-American ever to receive this honor.