Rosa

Rosa

Giovanni, N. (2005). Rosa. NY: Henry Holt and Company.

On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabaham, Rosa Parks left work early with permission from her supervisor because they were ahead of schedule. She welcomes the idea. Her Mom was getting over the flu and she could surprise Raymond with his favorite meal-meatloaf. The bus arrived and Rosa got on. The section reserved for blacks was full, but the neutral part was not. A short while later she was asked to move to accommodate some white people (even though she had a right to sit there). When she refused, she was arrested. When news spread of her arrest, members of the Women’s Political Council took action. They met and devised a plan to undermine the law by boycotting the city bus (walk rather than ride the bus), enlisted the NAACP, solicited Reverend Martin Luther King to speak in support and they march all around Montgomery. Almost a year later, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that segregation on buses was illegal.

I recommend this book to all ages as a source of inspiration, especially in the black community. Rosa Parks courage to stand up against that which was wrong changed laws and history. She reminded us all that second -class citizenship are just as much entitled to being treated as equal.

Click the link below for more about the author, Nikki Giovanni.

Nikki Giovanni

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