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This particular site allows us to read the speech Martin Luther King Jr gave while origanizing the boycott. Its fascinating to read the speech that inspired so many blacks in the iconic boycott. With his words, he managed to motivate blacks to fight for their rights in a peaceful manner.

Because of Rosa Park's fearless defiance towards the bus driver that placed her in jail, an act that was a social norm at this time, the NAACP was able to take on her case with success of getting it to the Supreme Court, to end these segregation laws, which forced people of color to yield to people of white skin whenever a seat is needed. The individuals which were part of the NAACP and The Women's Political Council were powerful in drafting three demands for the bus company: that seating is available on a strictly first-come, first-served basis; that drivers conduct themselves with greater civility to black passengers; and that black drivers are hired for predominately black routes. On refusal of the bus company to comply with the stated demands as I've pointed out above, the Montgomery Improvement Association was formed and elected as president was Martin Luther King. With subsequent campaigns by King, the boycott lasted a whole year. King defended injunction of the M-I-A. Rosa Park's case was ruled in favor by the Supreme Court, and on the 21 of December 1956 bus segregation had ended. Martin Luther King joined Ralph Abernathy and other boycott leaders for a ride on the first desegregated bus. This site is useful to this image because it points out the rigorous and at times dangerous processes in fighting for equality. It is also useful because it briefly explained in this era the leaders involved like Mr. King and Mr. Abernathy. I have always thought that Mrs. Parks fought the battle of jail time and making a difference in her time mostly by herself.

I chose to step away from Rosa and focus on Martin Luther King, as he played an important role in the civil rights movement. Dr. King actually became the spokesman for what happened that day on the bus. He used his powerful motivational skills to speak out against segregation during the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

The author of this blog post beseeches the reader to not just view Parks as a demure, passive woman whose one-off contribution to civil rights was not giving up her seat, but as a deeply committed activist whose memory and contributions put her side by side with other civil rights icons such as Martin Luther King Jr. This article was posted on the Ms. Magazine.com blog site, a blog that highlights women's issues written about, by female writers. I believe it appropriate to discuss the feminist angle regarding Rosa Park's historic action. She stood up for her rights not only during a time of segregation, but also a time of clear gender divisions, a time when all women were still considered second class citizens. I did a search on Google for Rosa Parks and feminism, and this blog post came up. When I did a search of Rosa Park's name in the site's search engine, I found more than a dozen articles/posts detailing Park's story and a few mentions of other black female activists such as Shirley Chisholm, the first black female member of Congress, freedom fighter Harriet Tubman, and Flo Kennedy, one of the founding members of the National Organization for Women.

This site, while covering Martin Luther King Jr. and his struggles for Civil Rights, also covers the U.S. Supreme Court case Browder v. Gayle of 1956 that was a direct result of the bus boycott started in 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to sit at the back of the bus. The Court ruled Alabama's segregated busing was unconstitutional and de-segregated buses began running in Montgomery, Alabama in Dec. 1956

Rosa Parks was inducted into the Academy of Achievement in 1995. This website gives a brief biography and highlights regarding Rosa Parks. She lived from 1913 to 2005, passing away at the age of 92. December 01, 1955, was a major turning point for the Civil Rights Movement when Rosa Parks would not give up her seat on the bus to a white passenger. As a result, she was arrested and fined. However, this incident led to the formation of the Montgomery Improvement Association, which was led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They called for a boycott of the city-owned bus company, which lasted for 382 days, and ultimately resulted in racial segregation being outlawed on public transportation.

As I was a big fan of the Scholastic book club flyers that I would receive in school, I was excited to see what their website had to offer.  The website contains resources for educators and young readers alike with sections dedicated to teachers, students, and librarians.  The site encourages literacy with the use of bold and colorful images.  The famed photo of Rosa Parks can be found in the section of the website entitled "Culture and Change: Black History in America."  Here, we see several pages dedicated to pivotal moments in Parks's life.  If you click on "court ruling" you will see the photograph.  This page informs us that the day after the segregation laws are deemed unconstitutional, Parks is accompanied by Martin Luther King, Jr. onto a city bus.  This shows us the magnitude of Parks's contribution to the cause.

This article gives more insight into Rosa Parks' character.  It seems that many of these type of articles, stories, plays, etc., come out years after people pass away or fade out of the public's eye.  I think in some cases the media has tried to vilify people like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Medgar Evers--to name a few.  The book mentioned in this article gives a personal account of Parks' heroic stand against inequality.

The reason I chose something other than the discussion of Rosa Parks is because I do not think that you can speak about one thing without speaking about the other in the Civil Rights Movement.  This is just important as its former.  Also, in this picture is Martin Luther King, Jr., who is another iconic figure in the Civil Rights Movement.  This is particularly important as we have just reached the 50th Anniversary on the March on Washington.  Voting rights was not only a race issue, it was a gender issue.  The article speaks about the optimism that many people had during these times.  People thought that change was possible.  You cannot have change without optimism.

This work describes how one woman sparked the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. The act of Rosa Parks caused not only pride among those who were mistreated and segregated in society, but also created inspiration. Her single act of courage moved many others to speak aloud and stand up for their rights as well. Describes the boycott organized by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, where African-Americans used every alternative for travel, proving their worth in society as equals. The Montgomery boycott sparked the attention of one very important man in history, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This website retraces the events of the day as pictured in the photograph. Not only does it go over the event in which Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, but it also discusses the bus strike of 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama. Details are also provided of the organization behind the strike, Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), along with a brief explanation of Dr. Martin Luther King's and Ralph Abernathy's involvement. There is also a short summary of the resulting court decision on segregated busing in 1956, along with an example of the sort of pamphlets that were circulated at the time to announce the bus strike back in 1955. This site serves to provide not only a brief, yet well rounded explanation of this photo's history, but gives us an understanding of who was behind the strike as well as what resulted from their effort.

The Rosa Parks Facts website is a thorough, overall location where one can find out anything about Rosa Parks. There is a link to information regarding her home, pictures, video, biography, timeline, early years, later years, her part in the Civil Rights Movement, her arrest, books, quotes, and even a search option to ask any question regarding Rosa Parks. This is a "one-stop-shop" where one can research anything regarding Rosa Parks. Toward the bottom of the page, there are also links to other Civil Rights figures: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and a Barack Obama biography.

This website not only discusses how Rosa Parks helped African Americans, but how she also helped women. In those days, women weren't allowed to do much as it was. Rosa Parks changed that in some way when she stood up to a white man on a bus. Rosa Parks single handedly changed the bus rules where African Americans were not only allowed to ride the bus and sit anywhere, but were allowed to apply for jobs as drivers as well. This website is useful in exploring the image because it shows you how one woman had an effect on an entire race. The website even uses the image on it's main page.

Rosa Parks is considered not only hero, but an African American woman who stood up to injustice and decided to take a peaceful stand against segregation. Rosa Parks gave African Americans a sense of dignity that was soon reaffirmed by being able to ride the bus, just like the "whites" did. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was able to use Rosa Park's actions as a platform to claim freedom and equality. This action, caused the African Americans to start realizing that they were equal to the whites. This gave them a sense of entitlement and lead to other movements that benefited all human beings, not only in the United States of America, but all over the world. This "woman" is truly a hero. Walking alone the street in Montgomery county, just like the whites did, was a triumph step towards equality.