Rosa Parks was born as Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, daughter of James and Leona McCauley. She grew up on a farm with her Methodist grandparents, mother, and brother. She worked as a seamstress making bed sheets.

In 1932, she married Raymond Parks, who was active in civil rights causes. In the 1940s, Mr. and Mrs. Parks were members of the Voters' League.

In the December 1943, Parks became active in the American Civil Rights Movement and worked as a secretary for the Montgomery, Alabama branch of the NAACP. Of her position she said, "I was the only woman there, and they needed a secretary, and I was too timid to say no." She continued as secretary until 1957 when she left Montgomery. Just six months before her arrest, she had attended the Highlander Folk School, an education center for workers' rights and racial equality.

 Rosa Parks became a very important person in history when, on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks refused to obey the orders of James Blake, a public bus driver, to move to the back of the bus to make extra room for whites. She was seated in the front row of the rear section of the bus -- in the section allotted for 'negroes'. (The terms 'negro' and 'black', as well as 'colored', were common terms at that time, used to refer to people of African descent.) She was arrested, tried, and convicted of disorderly conduct as well as of violating a local ordinance.

The following night, 50 leaders of the African American community, headed by the then relatively unknown minister Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr (pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama) gathered to discuss the proper actions to be taken as a result of Mrs. Parks’ arrest.

What ensued next was the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The entire black community boycotted public buses for 381 days. Dozens of public buses stood idle for months until the law requiring segregation on public buses was lifted. This event helped spark many other protests against segregation.

Through her role in initiating this boycott, Rosa Parks helped make other Americans aware of the civil rights struggle. Dr. King wrote in his 1958 book, Stride Toward Freedom, "Mrs. Parks’ arrest was the precipitating factor rather than the cause of the protest. The cause lay deep in the record of similar injustices...Actually no one can understand the action of Mrs. Parks unless he realizes that eventually the cup of endurance runs over, and the human personality cries out, "I can take it no longer."

In 1956 Parks’ case ultimately resulted in United States Supreme Court's ruling that segregated bus service was unconstitutional.

Above information excerpted from Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia.

Rosa Parks, whose steadfast refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man sparked a revolution against bigotry, has gone on to where prejudice and injustice has no foothold. She’s found true equality at last. Rosa Parks died peacefully of natural causes on 24 October 2005 at the age of 92.

Where she now abides, ‘Inalienable Rights’ aren’t just words promised to some on paper, and ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ isn’t merely a phrase chiseled on a court’s imposing façade. She leaves a monumental legacy.

For years, her simple, quiet courage and refusal to be further bullied stood as a beacon to those who honestly believe in true equality. She acted with dignity and controlled defiance.

She did not foment a riot. She did not engage in heated rhetoric. She did not torch a neighborhood. Her singular act of reserved, resolute courage ignited a spirit that changed a nation and marked the beginning of the end of overt, institutionalized racial discrimination in America.

John Wayne became an American icon and symbol of courage by portraying stalwarts in movies. Rosa Parks was not role-playing and not merely a symbol; she was the genuine article – a true American Hero. Rosa Parks – who just wanted to be free and wished the same for everyone else – may she rest in peace.

"I am leaving this legacy to all of you ... to bring peace, justice, equality, love and a fulfillment of what our lives should be. Without vision, the people will perish, and without courage and inspiration, dreams will die — the dream of freedom and peace."

--- Rosa Parks, 1913 - 2005