Rosa

Rosa Parks is one of the most well-known U.S. women of the 20th century and yet much of what has been taught about her is narrow, limited, and at times wrong. This is changing thanks to the release in 2021 of the young adult book, The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks and a new film with the same title — both based on the Parks’ biography by Jeanne Theoharis.

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow.
In this mixer lesson, students learn about Rosa Parks’ many decades of activism by taking on roles from various times in her life. In this way, students learn about her radicalism before, during, and long after the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Article. By Herbert Kohl. Rethinking Schools.
A critical analysis that challenges the myths in children’s books about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Book — Non-fiction. By Jeanne Theoharis and Brandy Colbert. 2021.
This biography of Rosa Parks accessibly examines her six decades of activism, challenging young readers’ perceptions of her as an accidental actor in the Civil Rights Movement.

Book — Non-fiction. By Danielle L. McGuire. 2010. 352 pages.
History of the violence against African-American women during the 20th century and the role played by Rosa Parks in the organized legal response to that abuse.

Book — Non-fiction. By Jeanne Theoharis. 2013. 320 pages.
A revealing window into Rosa Parks’ politics and years of activism.

Film. Directed by Johanna Hamilton and Yoruba Richen. Produced by Soledad O’Brien. 2022. 101 minutes.
This documentary sheds light on Rosa Parks’ extensive organizing, radical politics, and lifelong dedication to justice.

Film. By Teaching for Change. 2006. 15 minutes.
First grade teacher Maggie Donovan (SNCC veteran) introduces her students to the fight to desegregate the buses, placing Rosa Parks in the context of the larger community efforts.

Rosa Parks attended a mass meeting about Emmett Till days before her refusal to give up her seat on the bus.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott is one of the most powerful examples of organizing and social change in U.S. history.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the speech titled “The Other America” focusing on economic inequalities and white complicity in the North.

After a 381-day boycott, a federal ruling declared the Alabama laws requiring segregated buses to be unconstitutional.