Rosa Parks

Who was ROSA PARKS?

Of course, you heard about her before. She can be considered as a symbol as she was the first step towards equity between white and black people in the United States.

Rosa Parks, a black seamstress (couturiere) whose refusal to relinquish (ceder) her seat to a white man on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama, almost 50 years ago grew into a mythic even that helped touch off (etre le point de depart) the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, died at her home on the 25th of October in Detroit.
She was 92 years old. Parks said that she did not fully realize what she was starting when she decided not to move on that 1st of december 1955 evening in Montgomery. It was a simple refusal, but her arrest and the subsequent (qui suit) protests began the complex cultural struggle to legally guarantee equal rights to Americans of all races.
Within days, her arrest sparked (emettre des etincelles) a 380-day bus boycott, which led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that desegregated her city's public transportation. Her arrest also triggered (provoquer) mass demonstrations, made the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. famous, and transformed schools, workplaces and housing. Her role in American history earned her an iconic legacy in American culture and worldwide civil rights movements.

For further information:
http://www.rosaparks.org/index.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2005/10/051026_parks.shtml
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0bio-1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks
http://www.grandtimes.com/rosa.html

With best wishes,
Ceraulen