For many, Parks was the quiet seamstress and mother of the Civil Rights Movement when in
fact, she was so much more.
As a child she
listened to her grandfather, who admired the teachings of Marcus Garvey, tell stories
of a unification and empowerment of black people. Hearing these stories of struggle, self-pride
and determination inspired her to become an activist for justice. Her husband
Raymond was the founder of the Montgomery branch of the NAACP and she
served as the chapter’s secretary.
What
many do not know, when Parks was 18, she narrowly escaped a rape attempt of
a white man while working as a domestic. Years later, Parks would serve as
an NAACP investigator for the sexual violence against black women by white men. Parks worked on
many cases with the NAACP, including the Scottsboro Boys defense of 9 black
teenage boys accused of rape in Alabama in 1931.
Parks was trained
in non-violent resistant strategies by the NAACP. After her 1955 historic bus ride, Parks was
often the target of death threats and struggled to gain employment within the
Birmingham area. Parks and her husband
relocated to Detroit, Michigan in 1957 where she continued to work as a
seamstress. She was hired by Congressman
John Conyers to work as his administrative assistant in 1965 until her
retirement in 1988. Parks continued to lend her support in causes
after retirement by participating in the anti-apartheid movement in the 1990s.
I proudly wear this t-shirt today to celebrate Rosa
Parks,
a black woman, a feminist, MY SHERO.
a black woman, a feminist, MY SHERO.
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