Rosa Parks - Crusader

A Crusader is one who stands up for what she knows to be right and does not back down even in the face of adversity. Rosa Parks fought against the twin evils of segregation and racism. On December 1, 1955 this African American woman became a courageous symbol of the civil rights movement when she refused to give up her seat on a bus for a white man in Montgomery, Alabama. After she was arrested for defiance, she turned her outrage into a bus boycott which lasted over one year. In spite of facing the loss of her job, intense harassment, and threats against her life she did not back down. After 382 tense days, the boycott succeeded in repealing the segregation laws regarding transportation. Rosa never stopped fighting for civil rights; she continued the crusade throughout her life and worked to inspire and influence young people to stand up for their rights and to fight the injustices they find around them. We honor Rosa Parks and strive to adopt her steady courage and her indignation in the face of oppression into our own lives.