In 1955 the city buses in Montgomery, Alabama were segregated by law. White people and black people were not allowed to sit together.
On December 1 of that year, Mrs. Rosa Parks was riding the bus home from her job at a tailor shop. As the section for whites filled up, the black people were ordered to move to the back to make room for the white passengers who were boarding. Three blacks in Mrs. Parks' row moved, but Mrs. Parks remained in her seat. Later she said, "Our mistreatment was just not right, and I was tired of it. I knew someone had to take the first step. So I made up my mind not to move."
The bus driver asked her if she was going to stand up. "No, I am not," she answered him. Mrs. Parks was arrested and taken to jail. Four days later black people and white sympathizers organized a boycott of the city bus line that lasted until a year later, when the Supreme Court declared the segregated-bus ordinance unconstitutional.
Mrs. Parks is known today as the "mother of the modern-day civil rights movement." Her name inspires others to be courageous and do what is right, despite the circumstances.
A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.
Proverbs 22:1
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