How Did Rosa Parks Influence The Civil Rights Movement

"Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome." Rosa Louise Parks lived by these words as she displayed herself as a symbol of hope time and time again. Growing up in a segregated United States, Parks had incredibly strong desires to see an American future free from the hatred and bigotry her family and friends were forced to endure. To see her dreams come to light she knew she would be faced with powerful opposition which she would meet head on with impressive courage and defiance. Rosa Parks' staggering willpower and drive sparked the Civil Rights movement within the United States and played a crucial role in creating the country we have today. Against all

In this period of history, African Americans were subject to many forms of 'less than' human rights - deprived healthcare access, housing segregation, education inequality, police brutality. In her autobiography, Parks recalls her grandfather standing at the front door of their farm house, with a shotgun in his hand, while he watched as the Ku Klux Klan marched down their street. Despite the trying times and strains on her and her fellow Americans, Rosa Parks was able to draw influence from many in her life, especially her mother. When she was eleven years old her mother enrolled her in

Her course would eventually lead her to meeting a young barber by the name Raymond Parks and later marrying him in 1932. Her husband and colleague Raymond was an active member of the Voters' League and the NAACP, which at the time was collecting donations and raising funds to support a defense trial for a group of nine young black men falsely accused of raping two white women. This helped give Rosa more of an educated insight to the atrocities that were occurring with an alarming regularity and although the Scottsboro trial resulted in failure for the young men, Rosa used this as a stepping stone to becoming more involved and taking on more jobs to help the NAACP, whether it was work as a hospital aide or work as a domestic worker in a small community – Rosa was there to make a difference. In December 1943, Parks joined the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP and was elected volunteer secretary. Mrs. Parks also spent an amount of time as a housekeeper and seamstress for a white couple, Clifford and Virginia Durr. The Durrs were known as a very progressive couple sharing many of the same ideals and ethics as Rosa Parks and the others involved with their local NAACP chapter. They became friends with Ms. Parks and continually encouraged her to further her political involvement until they eventually sponsored her attendance to the Highlander Folk