‘The only tired I was, was tired of giving in’

When you ride on or see a bus today, imagine how life was when people could not use it freely: and remember Rosa Parks

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.” – Rosa Parks

Established in 1911, International Women’s Day is a day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. This year’s theme, “Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all,” offers a perfect opportunity to celebrate Rosa Parks – the woman who the US Congress would later call the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement – and to revise the oft-held view of her protest as the lonely, impulsive act of defiance of a tired, old woman.

In December 1955, with the start of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the drive for civil rights took a new and radical turn in Montgomery, Alabama, and rocked the hitherto immobile Cradle of the Confederacy.

All too often, the story of the Montgomery bus boycott begins with the arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to obey the local ordinances and give up her seat to a white person on a city bus, the story of a tired unwitting seamstress whose feet hurt, just trying to get home.

This portrait fails to do justice to the strong, politically active woman who bravely defied the city’s segregation ordinance with her eyes wide open to the significance of her act and its potential consequences.

Boycotting buses in the American south was not new – indeed boycotting street cars goes back to the 1860s, and a similar protest had taken place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the previous year. There was nothing spontaneous about the Montgomery boycott, either. Edgar Nixon, a civil rights leader and renowned union organizer, and Chair of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), recalls how local activists had “talked about a bus boycott all year.” Working with Jo Ann Robinson, President of the Women’s Political Council, Nixon considered several possible women who could start the boycott, but each had their flaw. One was not considered to be strong enough to see it through; another, who was 15, fell pregnant by an older married man; and a third’s father was found to be an alcoholic. Their case must be beyond reproach, and Nixon and Robinson vowed to be patient.

Eventually, the white city officials sped up the drive for civil rights by arresting Rosa who self-admittedly had “almost a life history of being rebellious against being mistreated because of my colour”.

Rosa’s early years had brought her experience of racial discrimination and oppression. Following the separation of her parents, Rosa Park’s mother moved the family to live with her parents. Both Rosa’s grandparents had been slaves, and were strong advocates for racial equality. In her biography, Rosa recalls an early memory of her grandfather stood in front of their house with a shotgun while the Ku Klux Klan marched down the street.

Her childhood revolved around a small church where her uncle was the pastor. There she developed both a strong faith and a sense of racial pride.

Growing up, almost every part of Rosa’s life was subject to Jim Crow laws – state and local laws enacted since 1876 which mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly “separate but equal” status for black Americans. In reality, this led to treatment and accommodations that were usually far inferior to those provided for white Americans, systematizing economic, educational and social disadvantages. Public schools and public places, even restrooms and water fountains, were segregated.

Rosa recalls that seeing the bus take white children to their new school while black students walked to their one-room school house with inadequate desks and supplies was one of the first times she realized that there was “a black world and a white world”. The Montgomery Industrial School, which she later attended, was built and staffed by white people for black children. It was burned twice by arsonists, and the staff ostracized by the white community.

In time, Rosa married Raymond, an activist seeking to promote radicalization of the NAACP involved in the campaign against lynching, and the struggle for voter and citizenship rights. Despite Jim Crow laws, Rosa Parks succeeded in registering to vote on her third attempt. Together, Rosa and her husband fought to raise money to support the Scottsboro Boys – nine black teenagers who had been falsely accused of the rape of two white girls.

During part of the Second World War, Rosa worked at the racially desegregated Maxwell Air Force Base. She later attributed her indignation toward the segregated Montgomery transportation system to its contrast with the integrated on-base transportation she had experienced: “You might just say Maxwell opened my eyes up.”

By the time of her protest, Rosa had served as NAACP Secretary for 12 years, and was working closely with Edgar Nixon. She was Advisor to the NAACP’s youth section. Rosa was certainly party to the discussions about finding a suitable case around which to ignite the boycott, indeed she had been raising money to fight the case for the 15-year-old before it was discovered the girl was pregnant.

Just before the boycott, the politically active Rosa attended the Highlander Folk School, a liberal leadership training school and cultural center in Tennessee which focused on workers’ rights and racial equality, and which would also train many other civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr.

By refusing to give up her seat that day, Rosa Parks knew the importance of her protest. She set in motion a boycott which would last more than a year, overcoming community factionalism and secularity, and which would see Martin Luther King Jr emerge as a leader – and the US State Supreme Court rule segregation on busses in Alabama and Montgomery to be unconstitutional.

Rosa’s quiet dignity, passion and determination remain an inspiration. She deserves to be celebrated every day, but especially on International Women’s Day.