Despite the groundbreaking achievements of legendary figures such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., many people often overlook the historical significance of African-American women. Yet Rosa Parks actions spoke louder than any lyrics or television dialogue. By refusing to give up her seat on a city bus to a white man in 1956, the seamstress and secretary from Montgomery, Ala., changed the course of history. Odd as it may seem, laws during that era required African-Americans to give up their public transit seats to whites throughout the South. Parks recognized the lack of humanity in such a policy and decided to challenge it.
People often forget how much courage that required.
By simply speaking up, Parks was arrested and jailed. Yet her defiance of the unjust law resulted in a yearlong bus boycott throughout much of the South. The unjust laws eventually were changed and Parks became the most prominent figure in America s civil rights movement. Last year, she received the nation s highest civilian award when President Clinton presented her the Congressional Gold Medal. In some ways, Parks continued in the tradition of civil rights pioneers Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth.