A VINA GUIDE TO ROSA PARKS DAY
On December 1st, 1955 Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. You probably don’t know this, but Rosa Parks had a serious problem with driver James F. Blake, who had ordered her to board at the back door and then drove off without her. (JERK) Parks then vowed to never ride a bus that he drove because of this, but on December 1st she boarded the bus not realizing he was driving. And history was made.
“I BELIEVE WE ARE HERE ON THE PLANET EARTH TO LIVE, GROW UP, AND DO WHAT WE CAN TO MAKE THIS WORLD A BETTER PLACE FOR ALL PEOPLE TO ENJOY FREEDOM.” – ROSA PARKS
While sitting in the front row of the segregated section of the bus, because Rosa did not give AF, a white passenger asked that all the black passengers in her row move to the back. The other passengers complied but Parks, who just taken a race relations class about nonviolent civil disobedience, made her stand. As a result of her action she was arrested, found guilty on December 5th, and fined a total of $14. That’s a lot of cashola back then. Obvi, like the badass he is, she appealed the decision. From December 1st, 1955 to December 20th, 1956 the Montgomery Bus Boycott swept the state and resulted in a Supreme Court decision that made Rosa Parks LEGEN… wait for it… DARY. Ever since then, it’s been declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses unconstitutional.
In later years she had contact with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, and participated in the Selma-to-Montgomery Marches. She and her family faced A LOT of hardships for her activism, but she never ever ever gave up. Pretty cool, huh.
Rosa Parks Day was initially thought of by the California State Legislature, where they decide to celebrate it on February 4, Park’s birthday, in 2000. Missouri followed suit in 2015 and declared February 4th a state holiday. Ohio and Oregon each made their own moves to celebrate Rosa Parks Day on the day she was arrested, December 1st. These four states have made the move to honor Parks for her NAACP activism, her brave civil rights stance, and her sheer grit in the face of opposition.
We have a lot of crazy stuff happening around the world (and in the good ol’ USA) and as those changes happen, we want you to keep this amazing lady in mind — take some time out today to share your hopes for equality in our society using the hashtag #RosaParksDay. Stand up for what is right, in whatever way that’s uniquely you, and look out for your fellow vinas.
We are all in this together ladies, or as Parks once said “I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up, and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.”
Thank you for being such a badass, Rosa.
How will you stand up for yourselves and your vinas today? Tell us in the comments!
Lindsey Lewis Smithson 