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Speaker 1: From Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this is Encyclopedia Wamanica Today's Warrior was a pioneering civil rights activist whose courageous resistance against legalized racism, segregation, and second class citizenship helped set in motion one of the largest social movements in American history. Let's talk about Rosa Parks. Rosa Louise McCaulay was born on February fourth, nineteen thirteen, in Tuskegee, Alabama, to James McCaulay, a carpenter, and his wife, Leona, who worked as a teacher. When Rosa was just two years old, she her mother, and her younger brother moved to Pine Level, Alabama to live with her grandparents on their farm. Though there were many happy times in her childhood, Rosa grew up in a time and place that was terrifying for a young black girl. She would later say about this period, we didn't have any civil rights. It was just a matter of survival of existing from one day to the next. I remember going to sleep as a girl, hearing the clan ride at night and hearing a lynching and being afraid the house would burn down. This fear was not unfounded in Alabama at the time. When Rosa was eleven, her mother enrolled her in the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls, where she thrived. This progressive private school was devoted to providing vocational and academic education to African American girls. After graduation, Rosa chose to attend Alabama State Teachers College, which is today known as Alabama State University, but when her grandmother fell ill, Rosa was forced to drop out. When Rosa was nineteen, she met and married local barber and civil rights activist Raymond Parkes. The two settled in Montgomery and joined the local chapter of the NAACP. For years, they quietly worked to improve life for African Americans in their own community and across the segregated South, but progress was slow. Eventually, Rosa worked her way up through the organization and was elected secretary of the Montgomery Chapter of the NAACP. She was a major organizer and leader in the civil rights movement in Alabama. On December first, nineteen fifty five, Rosa boarded a Montgomery city bus, much like she did most days, but this time, instead of heading to the back of the bus to the segregated seats designated for black passengers. Rosa purposely sat in front. When white passengers started to board, filling up the bus, the driver asked her to move. Rosa refused, already paid my fan. I'm sure he didn't pay them more than I d and I didn't think that once we take a seat, even in the segregation conditions, that we should be made the stand up. She was jailed and fined, and the Montgomery bus boycott, one of the largest and most impactful boycotts in American history, was born. In direct response to what would become known as the bus incident. The young pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery started a group called the Montgomery Improvement Association. His name was doctor Martin Luther King, Junior. D was the day that we started a bus protest which literally electrified the nation. This newly formed association called for boycotting the city buses. The bus boycott lasted for three hundred and eighty one days and brought unprecedented worldwide media coverage and attention to the civil rights movement, as well as to Rosa and doctor King. Eventually, a Supreme Court decision struck down the ordinance under which Rosa was jailed and fined, and found racial segregation on public transportation to be unconstitutional. Over the years, some have tried to diminish Rosa's role in the Montgomery bus boycott and the civil rights movement as a whole by claiming that she was just a seamstress who didn't move because she was tired, not because she was making a political statement. This version of events completely ignores the fact that Rosa's actions on the bus were planned and that she was already a major figure in the Montgomery civil rights movement working to end segregation. Rosa herself explained saying, people always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then I was forty two. No, the only tired I was was tired of giving in In nineteen fifty seven, Rosa and her husband, Raymond, moved to Detroit, Michigan, where Rosa took a job as a staff member for US Representative John Conyers. Rosa continued her activism and played a significant role in Detroit's civil rights movement. To honor her for all she'd done, the Southern Christian Leadership Council established an annual Rosa Park's Freedom Award. In nineteen ninety six, Rosa was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Clinton. By refusing to give up her seats, she sparked the Montgomery bus boycott and helped launch the civil rights movement. In the years since, she has remained committed to the cause of freedom, speaking out against injustice here and abroad. In nineteen ninety nine, she received the Congressional Gold Medal. Rosa died of natural causes at her home in Detroit on October twenty fourth, two thousand and five. She was ninety two years old. After her death, Rosa's casket was placed in the rotunda of the US Capitol Building for two days so that people could pay their respects, an honor usually only reserved for US presidents. Rosa is the only woman and only the second African American in US history to be given that honor. Tune in tomorrow for the story of another Warrior. Today's episode is brought to you by Bossy Cosmetics, a mission driven company focused on the empowerment of working women to look, feel and do good through cruelty, free makeup, exciting and topical content, and essential services such as coaching and styling. Bossy is unique in affirming the ambitions of working women around the world. Bossy partners with nonprofits around the world that advocate for social change for women and girls, and a portion of the proceeds from all sales go to victims of sex traffic, domestic and sexual violence. Go to Bossybauty dot com and use code encyclopedia for fifteen percent off your purchase of any products on the site. If you spend over fifty dollars, you'll be eligible for their upcoming Bossy Coaching Services, which provides a free hour of expert business coaching support as you work toward reaching your ambitious goals. That's Bossybauty dot com with code encyclopedia for fifteen percent off your first purchase. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co creator. Talk to you tomorrow.
Speaker 1: From Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this is Encyclopedia Wamanica Today's Warrior was a pioneering civil rights activist whose courageous resistance against legalized racism, segregation, and second class citizenship helped set in motion one of the largest social movements in American history. Let's talk about Rosa Parks. Rosa Louise McCaulay was born on February fourth, nineteen thirteen, in Tuskegee, Alabama, to James McCaulay, a carpenter, and his wife, Leona, who worked as a teacher. When Rosa was just two years old, she her mother, and her younger brother moved to Pine Level, Alabama to live with her grandparents on their farm. Though there were many happy times in her childhood, Rosa grew up in a time and place that was terrifying for a young black girl. She would later say about this period, we didn't have any civil rights. It was just a matter of survival of existing from one day to the next. I remember going to sleep as a girl, hearing the clan ride at night and hearing a lynching and being afraid the house would burn down. This fear was not unfounded in Alabama at the time. When Rosa was eleven, her mother enrolled her in the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls, where she thrived. This progressive private school was devoted to providing vocational and academic education to African American girls. After graduation, Rosa chose to attend Alabama State Teachers College, which is today known as Alabama State University, but when her grandmother fell ill, Rosa was forced to drop out. When Rosa was nineteen, she met and married local barber and civil rights activist Raymond Parkes. The two settled in Montgomery and joined the local chapter of the NAACP. For years, they quietly worked to improve life for African Americans in their own community and across the segregated South, but progress was slow. Eventually, Rosa worked her way up through the organization and was elected secretary of the Montgomery Chapter of the NAACP. She was a major organizer and leader in the civil rights movement in Alabama. On December first, nineteen fifty five, Rosa boarded a Montgomery city bus, much like she did most days, but this time, instead of heading to the back of the bus to the segregated seats designated for black passengers. Rosa purposely sat in front. When white passengers started to board, filling up the bus, the driver asked her to move. Rosa refused, already paid my fan. I'm sure he didn't pay them more than I d and I didn't think that once we take a seat, even in the segregation conditions, that we should be made the stand up. She was jailed and fined, and the Montgomery bus boycott, one of the largest and most impactful boycotts in American history, was born. In direct response to what would become known as the bus incident. The young pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery started a group called the Montgomery Improvement Association. His name was doctor Martin Luther King, Junior. D was the day that we started a bus protest which literally electrified the nation. This newly formed association called for boycotting the city buses. The bus boycott lasted for three hundred and eighty one days and brought unprecedented worldwide media coverage and attention to the civil rights movement, as well as to Rosa and doctor King. Eventually, a Supreme Court decision struck down the ordinance under which Rosa was jailed and fined, and found racial segregation on public transportation to be unconstitutional. Over the years, some have tried to diminish Rosa's role in the Montgomery bus boycott and the civil rights movement as a whole by claiming that she was just a seamstress who didn't move because she was tired, not because she was making a political statement. This version of events completely ignores the fact that Rosa's actions on the bus were planned and that she was already a major figure in the Montgomery civil rights movement working to end segregation. Rosa herself explained saying, people always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then I was forty two. No, the only tired I was was tired of giving in In nineteen fifty seven, Rosa and her husband, Raymond, moved to Detroit, Michigan, where Rosa took a job as a staff member for US Representative John Conyers. Rosa continued her activism and played a significant role in Detroit's civil rights movement. To honor her for all she'd done, the Southern Christian Leadership Council established an annual Rosa Park's Freedom Award. In nineteen ninety six, Rosa was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Clinton. By refusing to give up her seats, she sparked the Montgomery bus boycott and helped launch the civil rights movement. In the years since, she has remained committed to the cause of freedom, speaking out against injustice here and abroad. In nineteen ninety nine, she received the Congressional Gold Medal. Rosa died of natural causes at her home in Detroit on October twenty fourth, two thousand and five. She was ninety two years old. After her death, Rosa's casket was placed in the rotunda of the US Capitol Building for two days so that people could pay their respects, an honor usually only reserved for US presidents. Rosa is the only woman and only the second African American in US history to be given that honor. Tune in tomorrow for the story of another Warrior. Today's episode is brought to you by Bossy Cosmetics, a mission driven company focused on the empowerment of working women to look, feel and do good through cruelty, free makeup, exciting and topical content, and essential services such as coaching and styling. Bossy is unique in affirming the ambitions of working women around the world. Bossy partners with nonprofits around the world that advocate for social change for women and girls, and a portion of the proceeds from all sales go to victims of sex traffic, domestic and sexual violence. Go to Bossybauty dot com and use code encyclopedia for fifteen percent off your purchase of any products on the site. If you spend over fifty dollars, you'll be eligible for their upcoming Bossy Coaching Services, which provides a free hour of expert business coaching support as you work toward reaching your ambitious goals. That's Bossybauty dot com with code encyclopedia for fifteen percent off your first purchase. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co creator. Talk to you tomorrow.
