Biography of: Rosa Parks
Author: Charlie Baker
Timeline
Leadership Style
Political Philosophy
Timeline
- Feb 4, 1913 Rosa Louise McCauley was born in Tuskagee, Alabama
- Aug 1924 Rosa enrolled in a liberal private school as an adolescent at Alabama State University
- 1932 Rosa married Raymond Parks, a barber and activist
- 1932-1950's Rosa began taking part in several African-American organizations, where she served as secretary for her community chapter of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). Also she worked for the Montgomery Voters League, the NAACP Youth Council, and many other civic and religious groups.
- Dec 1, 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery Alabama bus
- Dec 5, 1955 Rosa lead a boycott by all colored people on the Montgomery buses, which lasted for 381 days
- Nov 13, 1956 Supreme Court declared Alabama's state and local laws requiring segregation on buses unconstitutional
- Dec 20, 1956 Federal injunctions were served on the city of Montgomery, Alabama enforcing the courts ruling on public transportation
- 1957 Rosa and her husband moved to Detroit-Michigan
- 1964-65 The Civil Rights Movement Rosa Parks started culminated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965
- 1970's-80's Rosa Parks received many tributes for her dedication and inspiration. Rosa also received the Martin Luther King Jr. non-violent peace prize.
- 1987 Rosa and Raymond Parks founded the Institute for Self-Development. This institute prepares young African-Americans for leadership positions in the workplace and the community. A subdivision of the Institute, called Pathways of Freedom, allows groups of teens to follow the Underground Railroad and visit the historical sites of the Civil Rights Movement. Today Rosa Parks is still alive and well living in Michigan, her husband Raymond has since passed away
Leadership Style
Rosa Parks is a person who has two seperate leadership styles. Rosa uses Democratic leadership which means she has shared power by consensus in different ways. Rosa uses this leadership style when she began taking part in several African-American organizations. She served as secretary for the NAACP in her community. Rosa also worked for the Montgomery Voters League, the NAACP Youth Council, and many other civic and religious groups. Rosa uses democratic leadership here because she is working for organizations which are sharing powers. These organizations are working toward a common goal which is for Civil Rights, but each organization has seperate tasks with many shared powers to help achieve a common goal. Even when Rosa is the secretary for her community chapter of the NAACP she still has shared powers with the whole organization. Rosa's goal in working for these groups is to have her Civil Rights along with all of her other group members and her whole race.
The next leadership style Rosa uses is Laissez-faire, which means Rose uses a hands off approach with minimal direction and everyone fulfills a purpose. This leadership style is first used when Rosa refuses to give up her seat to a white passenger on her bus ride home from work on December 1, 1955. This refusal to give up her seat was unplanned and impulsive. Rosa had no intentions of helping to start the Civil Rights Movement, but she did. This type of Laissez-faire leadership is probably the best thing that could have ever happened to the Civil Rights Movement. This unplanned and impulsive event by Rosa Parks is what sparked the Civil Rights Movement and made colored people what they are today.
Political Philosophy
Rosa Parks is a lady who is fighting for her Civil Rights in 1955. Her leadership styles as well as the cool, calm, and collective attitude says she has a certain distinct political philosophy. Rosa uses an innovational/radicalist political philosophy. This says she is a leader who is in favor of experimental and permanent change, she supports values of society. In the next few statements taken from the book Rosa Parks you will understand why she uses an innovational philosophy. In this book Rosa quotes herself many times, never using harsh language or words. She is slammed many times by white people and is in the spot light of racism throughout the whole book. First Rosa shows her innovational philosophy with a radicalist approach when she refuses to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. Rosa is told to give up her seat by a white man and she refuses. She uses a calm attitude and refuses to move very quietly without saying a word. The driver of the bus asks Rosa if she is going to move and she says "NO." The driver then told Rosa he would have to have arrested. Rosa then responded to him in s somber voice saying "You may do that." These were the only words spoken by Rosa on the bus. Rosa knew by being arrested she might be beaten and anything could happen, but she stayed very calm not causing any trouble. Rosa "told herself she must not think too deeply of what might happen to her because she feared she might give up her seat, but I choose to remain." Rosa is then arrested and asked many questions by the police and answered each in a very calm, polite manner. Then Rosa asks the police a question of her own "Why do you all push us around?" The policeman said "I don't know, but the law is the law and you're under arrest." Rosa remained calm supporting the values of society. Rosa continues to use her innovational philosophy with a radicalist approach when she was taken to jail. She was the target of the highest amount of racism she had ever seen at the courthouse and the jail, but she remained herself. Rosa was denied many things which would usually never be of any problem. She was denied a sip of water and a telephone call to tell someone to come and get her out of jail.
Another big event that displays Rosa's innovational/radicalist philosophy was the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. On the Monday Rosa was to be going on trial for her bus incident the NAACP and the Committee of Women in Montgomery ordered a bus boycott for the city by all colored citizens. They said this boycott was going to be done to create change in the system. This boycott was one lead by Christians without one single violent outbreak. After the boycott went so well on that Monday and not one single colored person rode the buses, the whole town almost shut down. The next day people decided they may have the bus segregation laws changed if they continued to boycott the buses. So for the next 381 days all African-Americans refused to ride Montgomery buses. During this 381 day boycott thousands were arrested, but not for something wrong. They were arrested because they refused to ride the buses. This has been said many times by the NAACP to be the best display of power a group of people could ever have shown in a nonviolent fashion. All of this because of Rosa Parks and her innovational political philosophy with a radicalist twist.
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