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Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks is most famously known for instigating the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott, which became the unofficial catalyst for sweeping civil rights reform in the 1950s and ’60s. However, Parks had a body of activism that spans the breadth of her life, far surpassing that monumental decision to refuse to give up her seat.

Parks was married to her longtime husband, Raymond, although the couple never had children. After the bus boycott, she became an important symbol in the movement, and she was a powerfully affecting force in every cause she joined.

After Montgomery, she became the “face” of the movement, and she collaborated with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Edward Nixon themselves. She soon moved to Detroit where she served under an African-American US Representative. She became vocal in the Black Power movement and fought for the rights of political prisoners. Long after she retired, she was still tirelessly using her voice to fight for equality and defeat injustice.

Even though that day in 1955 seems to define Rosa Parks, she was so much more than that one decision. Even though most of what she did didn’t make the papers like the boycott, she worked her entire life for what she believed. Her legacy includes several autobiographies, a scholarship program, and service on the board of Planned Parenthood. She was a trailblazer for women until she died at 92 in 2005.