Rosa Parks- Mother of Civil Rights (Women Who Changed the World Series)

Check this out! Podcast4kids is coming at you with a new series on Women Who Changed the World.  Over the next few weeks we will highlight 10 incredible women who made lasting impacts on the world around them.  

This series of 10 Women Who Changed the World is also designed to honor Black History Month and Women's History month!  

In this first episode of the series we dive into the inspiring life of Rosa Parks. Join hosts Amy Contreras & Cece as they explore Rosa's courageous stand against segregation on a Montgomery bus in 1955 and the profound impact it had on the civil rights movement. 

You'll get to learn about her childhood years in a segregated Alabama as well as  her lifelong dedication to justice and equality. Did you know about all of Rosa's many contributions beyond just her famous refusal to give up her seat? 

This engaging episode combines history, interactive questions, and fun facts, making it educational for kids and their grown-ups alike. Tune in for an inspiring journey through the life of a true trailblazer! 

Transcript

Welcome to Check this out!  A podcast for kids 

(And their grown ups) where we talk about interesting people, places, and ponderings. 

This is the first episode in our series on Women who changed the world! There are so many incredible women who have made an impact on the world around us it was hard to choose who to talk about first.  This definitely won’t be the only time we talk about women who changed the world because there are so many!   

It is also Black History Month so our first few Women Who Changed the world episodes honor the Black women who have worked so hard to make our world a better place.  The first woman we are going to talk about in our Women who changed the world series is sometimes referred to as the mother of the civil rights movement.  

Cece: I’m not sure who that is! 

That's ok Cece because I’m going to tell you all about Rosa Parks in our episode today.  If you’ve been listening to our podcast you’ve learned a little bit about Rosa Parks when we discussed Martin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery bus boycott.  Cece: That’s right! I remember her now! 

Oh good! But there is so much more to know about Rosa Parks than the little snippets we gave you before.  Today we are going to go deeper and get to know this amazing woman and learn about her lasting impacts.

Cece: Let’s get into it! 

Happy to!  First I want to make sure everyone is paying attention because I just gave this answer… Do you remember what event made Rosa Parks famous? 

Was it

1. Refusing to give up her seat on a bus? 
2. Hosting a sit-in to resist segregation? 
3. Speaking to crowds about civil rights?  

Cece: A! 

Yes! A is correct! We will talk a lot about what happened when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery Alabama in 1955 in this episode.  But Rosa Parks did so much more than just refuse to give up her seat, even though that small action set off a chain of events that sparked the modern civil rights movement!  

Let’s talk about her life, her legacy, and why she's a woman who changed the world. 

Rosa Parks was born in 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama to parents James and Leona.  Her mother was a school teacher and her family put a lot of energy into education.  When she was young her parents separated and when she was 11 she moved to a farm near Montgomery, Alabama with her mother and brother.  

Cece: How was life there? 

Well, Montgomery Alabama was a heavily segregated city in the south.  And the Jim Crow laws made things hard, and often dangerous for black people.  

Check this out! 

Do you remember what segregated means? We’ve talked about it in other episodes.  Segregated basically means that white people and black people, and other people of color were kept separate.  Black and white kids weren’t allowed to go to school together, they had different libraries, and couldn’t even drink out of the same water fountains!  

Cece: That’s right, I remember now.  Thanks mama! 

I’ve also mentioned the Jim Crow laws in our episode on MLK.  But what are those? Let’s see if you can take a guess.  Were the Jim Crow Laws 

1.  Rules that said people couldn’t eat crows and other birds  in the south?  
2.  A collection of laws that legalized racial segregation in the southern united states? 
3. Laws in the northern united states that helped black people find jobs? 

If you said B, you’re right! States that had Jim Crow laws could authorize separate or segregated places not only for schools but for hospitals, sports events, restaurants, barbershops, railroad and bus stations, restrooms, beaches, parks, and many other places.  The phrase that was often used to reinforce these laws was the concept of “separate but equal” however, segregated resources, places, and schools for black or colored people got less funding and were rarely, if ever equal.  

Cece: Thats terrible.   

That is why when Rosa’s family lived in Montgomery things weren’t always easy.  She witnessed and heard violence often very close to her home.  There are stories about when Rosa Parks was young that she and her siblings and cousins would go to bed in their clothes in case they needed to escape in the night.  

Cece: How scary! 

Yea, and her grandfather would stay up and keep watch over the house at night in case they needed to deal with an angry mob.  Her family even had to board up their windows and doors at night for extra protection.  

Cece:  Things were not easy. 

No they were not.  But through it all Rosa continued with her education.  She went to a segregated high school, but had to drop out at 16 to help out some sick family members.  She got a job cleaning houses for white people.  

Cece: She was so strong 

A couple of years later Rosa Parks met and married her husband, Raymond Parks.  They married in 1932, when she was 19.  This was 23 years before her famous arrest for refusing to give up her seat on the bus.   Raymond was a barber and was involved in the civil rights movement.   He also encouraged her to go back to school and she graduated highschool at the age of 20.  

After she married Raymond she began working as a seamstress and she became more involved in the civil rights movement.  

Cece: Tell us more about that! 

Her husband was a member of the NAACP. 

Cece: What does that mean? 

NAACP stands for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.  

Cece: Ohh

In 1943 Rosa Parks joined the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP and became the chapter secretary.  Long before the famous moment on the bus in 1955 Rosa had built a long legacy of fighting for others and working for civil rights.  

Cece: That is cool.  Like what?  

Rosa Parks worked hard for the NAACP and she had a role as an investigator protecting black people from false accusations and arrests.  She also took nonviolent protest classes to educate herself on how best to help the civil rights movement.  She even led the youth branch of the NAACP and she traveled throughout the state of Alabama interviewing victims of discrimination and witnesses to violence.

Cece: Was there anything she didn’t do? 

Not really, even without the bus in Montgomery her impacts on her community and the civil rights movement were significant.  But let’s talk more about the bus, Rosa’s choice, and what happened after, and how it altered the course of her life!  

First, know that Rosa Parks lived a long, long life.  She was born in 1913 and she died in 2005 at the age of 92!  She had a lot of life left to live after the bus and I’m excited to tell you about those years as well.  

Cece: Well that is good! 

Absolutely! But let’s get into the famous bus moment.  

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was riding a Montgomery city bus.  She was 42 at the time and was commuting home from her job as a seamstress. Rosa Parks had a seat at the front of the crowded bus.   The bus driver noticed there were white passengers standing, and he asked Parks and other Black passengers to give up their seats. Three of the black passengers left their seats, but Parks refused. 

Cece : She was really brave. 

She sure was! Because she refused to give up her seat she was arrested.  She was also fined $10 for the offense and $4 for court costs, neither of which she paid.  

Cece: Did she do it on purpose? 

That's a great question. There has been a story told over the years that she was so tired from work that she didn’t want to get up, but this is not true.   Here is a quote from her autobiography about the moment: 

"I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was 42. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in."

Cece: What does that mean? 

I can’t speak for her, but when she said she was tired of giving in it probably meant she was tired of giving in to the unfair conditions, the segregation, and the treatment of black people in Montgomery and beyond.   

Cece: Oh 

The news of her arrest spread quickly and in partnership with the NAACP chapter president, E.D. Nixon, Rosa Parks and her husband decided to bring a legal case against Montgomery and the bus system. The NAACP and Rosa Parks knew they needed to legally challenge segregation in Alabama and Rosa Parks’ arrest was the right opportunity to do that.  This was also when MLK and the Southern Christian Leadership Council got involved.  

Cece: I remember hearing about that! 

Yup, we talked about it in our episode on MLK.  Rosa Parks had a trial on December 5th 1955 and that was the day the boycott started.  

Cece: How did people know to boycott? 

Great question! There wasn’t internet or cell phones back then.  So they made 35,000 flyers that got sent  home with Black schoolchildren, informing their parents of the planned boycott against the buses. Remember boycotting is not using a service or product.  Black people made up about 70% of the bus riders in Montgomery Alabama so it caused a huge loss of money from people not riding the buses.  

She was even arrested again for being involved in the boycott and lost her seamstress job as well.  The Montgomery bus boycott lasted 381 days and was led by Dr Martin Luther King Jr.  but was sparked by Rosa Parks' brave act and arrest.  

Cece: Wow that is a long time! 

Yea, 381 days is over a year!  

And it is important to note that Rosa Parks wasn't the first black woman to refuse to give up her seat on a bus.  Claudette Colvin, Aurelia Browder, Mary Louise Smith and Susie McDonald were all black women who were also arrested for refusing to give up their seats before Rosa Parks.  But Rosa Parks was well connected in the civil rights community and the NAACP so civil rights leaders in Montgomery decided to use Rosa’s arrest to legally challenge segregation in court.   

Cece: Interesting 

Yes! Her role in kicking off the Montgomery Bus Boycott and modern civil rights movement led to her being called a nickname.  Do you remember what it is? 

Was it

A: Bus Lady 

B: Rosa Parks Boycott Queen 

C: The mother of the civil rights movement 

If you said C for your answer, you’re right! She is referred to as the mother of the civil rights movement for her role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. 

On November 13, 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation was unconstitutional; the boycott ended December 20, a day after the Court’s written order arrived in Montgomery.

After the boycott she had to deal with lots of angry people so she moved with her husband to Detroit in 1957.  WHile in detroit She stayed involved in the civil rights movement, NAACP and she worked on the staff of a michigan congressman.  She stayed busy continuing to drive progress while in Detroit.  

Cece: How mama? 

In 1987 she co founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development which provides career training for young people.  It also educates about the history of the civil rights movement. 

Cece: I want to check out more about that! 

She also was a speaker for civil rights and wrote 4 books in her life, including her auto-biography.  

Check this out! 

What is an autobiography?  An Autobiography is the telling of a person's life written by that person. So if there is an auto-biography that means the person who the book is about either wrote it themselves or helped write it! 

Cece: Can I write an autobiography? 

Sure kiddo!  

Rosa Parks received some pretty important awards over the course of her life, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996 and the Congressional Gold Medal 1999.

Cece: What is that? 

The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest honor the United States bestows on a civilian or a regular person.  

Cece: WOW! 

When Rosa Parks died in 2005, her body lay in state in the U.S. Capitol.  

Cece: What does that mean? 

Lying in state is an honor reserved for private citizens who performed a great service for their country. People got to visit her casket and gave thanks for her dedication to civil rights. 

Rosa Parks was the first woman and only the second Black person to receive the distinction of laying in state.

Cece: That is important

She was important and made a huge impact on our country and world.  Before we wrap up learning about Rosa Parks I want to share a couple of other fun facts about her that you can check out more on your own if you want to learn more!  

Fact #1: James Blake, the bus driver who demanded she give up her seat, had bothered Rosa before.  In 1943, Blake had ejected her from his bus after she refused to re-enter the vehicle through the back door after paying her fare at the front. Which is what black people were supposed to do at the time.  

Fact #2:  Bus seats were left empty to honor Rosa Parks on the 50th anniversary of her arrest.

On December 1, 2005, buses  in New York City, Washington, D.C. and other cities left the seats behind bus drivers empty to commemorate Parks’ act. 

Fact #3:  There is a statue of Rosa Parks in the Capitol.  

Cece: What was your favorite fact? 

My favorite fact wasn’t one of the 3 additional ones we just shared but I liked that she was the first woman and only the second Black person to receive the distinction of laying in state. 

Cece: Me too! 

Rosa Parks left a legacy of working for justice for others.  She was active and impactful throughout her life and was so much more than just a woman who didn’t get up on a bus. 

What did you learn from Listening to Check THis OUt’s episode on Rosa Parks?  

As always we will wrap up with a little rhyme

Cece: We wrote you a poem! 

On a cold December day, in fifty-five,

She stayed seated, her spirit alive.

A bus boycott sparked and unity grew,

Rosa's brave stand, if only she knew 

All these years later her impact lives on 

Rosa Parks, mother of civil rights, we continue to fight on.  

Be sure to listen to our next episode on Bessie Coleman, another amazing black woman who changed the world.  

At the “check this out” we know it can be hard to know if information you find online is accurate!  We use verified sources to build the stories you hear about. 

Cece Our sources for this week's episode are 

NAACP, Encyclopedia Britannica, Civil RIghts Museum.org, Library of COngress, History.com 

Thanks for listening! 

Make sure to subscribe and like!  

See you next episode 

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/rosa-parks 

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rosa-Parks 

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/rosa-parks 

https://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/educators 

https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/civil-rights-leaders/rosa-parks 

https://www.rebelgirls.com/blog/7-interesting-facts-about-rosa-parks-to-share-with-your-daughter 

https://www.britannica.com/summary/Jim-Crow-Laws-Key-Facts 

https://www.loc.gov/collections/rosa-parks-papers/articles-and-essays/beyond-the-bus/