Rosa Parks

When Rosa Parks was growing up in Montgomery, Alabama, she hated the unfair rules that black people had to live by—like drinking out of special water fountains and riding in the back of the bus. Years later, Rosa Parks changed the lives of African American in Montgomery—and all across America—with one courageous act. On a December evening in 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. She was arrested and put in jail. But Rosa Parks fought back, along with many other African Americans. After a long struggle, their heroic efforts launched the modern Civil Rights Movement. How could one quiet, gentle woman have started it all? This is her story.