ROSA PARKS

Rosa Parks (Tuskegee, Alabama, 4 de febreiro de 1913 – Detroit, Michigan, 24 de outubro de 2005) viviu nunha época na que a segregación racial estaba autorizada por lei na maior parte dos estados do sur dos EE.UU. A segregación impúñase nos lugares públicos, nas tendas e no transporte público, xa que había seccións diferentes para negros e brancos nos autobuses e trens. Tampouco había transporte escolar para nenos negros, e a educación para eles sempre estaba mal financiada.

Rosa tivo empregos variados, pero animada polo seu marido, rematou a educación secundaria nun tempo no que só o 7% de afroamericanos obtían o título. Pronto se uniu ó movemento polos dereitos civís e foi elexida secretaria da National Assotiation for the Advancement of Colored People en Montgomery.

O 1 de decembro de 1955, en Montgomery, mentras Rosa voltaba á casa nun autobús, despois dun longo día no seu traballo como costureira, o conductor deuse conta de que había dous ou tres pasaxeiros brancos de pé, e a sección reservada para brancos, que estaba na parte dianteira, xa se completara. Así que lle dixo a ela e a outros tres pasaxeiros negros, que ían sentados na primera fila da sección para negros, que se levantasen e se movesen cara a parte traseira do autobús. Os outros tres obedeceron, pero Rosa dixo que NON. Finalmente, dous policías achegáronse ó autobús e foi arrestada. Edgar Nixon, Presidente da NAACP en Montgomery, pagou a fianza para que saíse do cárcere esa noite.

En resposta ó seu encarceramento, Martin Luther King coordinou xunto con outros líderes a protesta dos autobuses públicos de Montgomery, un boicot que convocaba ós negros a deixar de toma-los autobuses e a organizarse para transportarse polos seus propios medios. As autoridades e a poboación branca tentaron agresivamente rematar con este boicot, sen conseguilo, xa que duraría 381 días. Esto fixo que a empresa dos autobuses tivese grandes perdas, de forma que finalmente a autoridade do transporte público se veu obrigada a declarar inconstitucional a segregación racial nos autobuses. Este suceso deu lugar a máis protestas contra o resto das prácticas de segregación que se executaban por lei.

Despois do boicot, Rosa Parks convertiuse nun icono internacional do movemento polos dereitos civís, pero tamén foi despedida do seu traballo, e recibiu ameazas de morte durante anos despois daquelo. Mudouse a Detroit, onde atopou un emprego como secretaria e recepcionista de John Conyers, un representante afroamericano. Tamén foi activa no movemento Black Power e no apoio dos prisioneiros políticos nos EE.UU.

Rosa Parks (Tuskegee, Alabama, February 4, 1913 - Detroit, Michigan, October 24, 2005) lived at a time when racial segregation was authorized by law in most of the southern US states. Segregation was imposed on public places, stores and public transport, as there were different sections for blacks and whites in buses and trains. Also, there was no school transport for black children, and education for them was always poorly funded.

Rosa had varied jobs, but encouraged by her husband, she finished high school at a time when only 7% of African Americans got the qualification. Soon she joined the movement for civil rights and was elected secretary of the National Assotiation for the Advancement of Colored People in Montgomery.

On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, while Rosa returned to her house on a bus, after a long day in her job as a seamstress, the driver realized that there were two or three standing white passengers, and the section reserved for whites, which was on the front, had already been completed. So he told her and the other three black passengers, who were sitting in the front row of the black section, to get up and move to the back of the bus. The other three obeyed, but Rosa said NO. Finally, two police officers approached the bus and she was arrested. Edgar Nixon, President of the NAACP in Montgomery, paid the bail to get her out of prison that night.

In response to her incarceration, Martin Luther King coordinated with other leaders the protest of public buses at Montgomery, a boycott that summoned the blacks to stop taking buses and organizing themselves to transport themselves by their own means. The authorities and the white population aggressively tried to finish this boycott, without success, since it would last for 381 days. This caused the bus company to have huge losses, so that finally the public transport authority was forced to declare unconstitutional the racial segregation on the bus. This event resulted in more protests against the rest of the segregation practices that were executed by law.

After the boycott, Rosa Parks became an international icon of the civil rights movement, but she was also dismissed from her job, and received death threats for years after that. She moved to Detroit, where she found a job as secretary and receptionist for John Conyers, an African-American representative. She has also been active in the Black Power movement and in the support of political prisoners in the U.S.