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This website discusses the issues of race and its history in not only America, but surrounding countries. Racism is historically described as beginning in the European Era of Exploration. This website includes a very informative video that discusses the colonization and takeover of those who were unlike "their own". The video also breaks down the roots of the term race and how it came to be, both scientifically and socially. The website also discusses the global issues of racism today and how racism continues under more acceptable terminology, relating to immigration laws that exist today. The image that portrays Rosa Parks sitting in front of a Caucasian man elicits thoughts of racism and segregation, how it came to be and what roles history plays in today's world. The Global Issues website addresses these issues in history, including the days of the civil rights movement.

Months prior to Parks arrest for civil disobedience, four other women had been arrested for refusing to give up their seat on a bus as well. One of the more well-known women of the group was 15 year old Claudette Colvin who like Parks was involved with the NAACP - Colvin was a mentee of Parks. Originally the boycott and civil action case was to be centered around Colvin until it was discovered that she was pregnant and had trouble keeping composed when upset. Parks arrest was chosen to launch a challenge against segregation laws due to her impeccable character and reputation. Colvin and the three other women, Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, and Mary Louise Smith re-emerged when they agreed to file a civil action on February 1, 1956. The outcome of this civil action was a panel of three judges agreed 'that Montgomery segregation codes "deny and deprive plaintiffs and other Negro citizens similarly situated of the equal protection of the laws and due process of law secured by the Fourteenth Amendment."'

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 article in the African American History section of About.com gives a brief biographical summary of Parks' life and civil rights accomplishments. Interestingly, it mentions that Parks' was aware of the divide between black and white people as a child, "I'd see the bus pass every day. But to me, that was a way of life; we had no choice but to accept what was the custom. The bus was among the first ways I realized there was a black world and white world." It is apparent that Parks' would no longer accept what was custom the day she refused to give up her seat on that Montgomery bus. The African American History section on About.com has an extensive collection of historical information, timelines, video clips, facts of African American activists, writers, artists, politicians, and quite a bit of information on Parks and the Civil Rights movement.

In the southern town of Indianola, Mississippi, a number of segregated schools still exist and thrive to this day. Inexpensive private schools for white children were founded in response to federal orders of desegregation between the years of 1964-1972. The stark difference between the resources available for the white schools as oppose to black schools is blatant - run down buildings, spotty internet, and outdated learning materials plague the public schools predominantly attended by black students. I believe this article is relevant to the Parks' photo because it shows us that even though this country has made strides in regards to equality, blatant segregation still exists.

This webpage is part of an online exhibition on the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History website, titled "Separate Is Not Equal Brown v. Board of Education". Listed are a handful of Jim Crow laws that prohibited various interactions between white people and individuals of other races and ethnicities. These laws prohibited intermarriage, mandated separate facilities for travel and education, and even imposed jail time for women who carried the child of a black or mixed race man. In communities around the country property owners would sign a restrictive covenant that stated they promised not to sell their homes to individuals who were not white. The bus that Parks was arrested on belonged to a company that adhered to segregation laws. Living in a city as diverse as New York makes it so challenging for me to imagine that there was a time when people couldn't ride a bus together if they belonged to different racial groups. On any given day I find myself sitting or standing next to a variety of people from all kinds of ethnic and cultural background. Thank goodness for the Civil Rights movement and the activists that stood up for equality.

This site lists a number of her achievements from 1979 to 2000. In 1979 the NAACP award her the Spinard medal which is the NAACP's highest honor. In 1983, she was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame. In September of 1992, Rosa Parks was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience award for her years of community service and her life time effort to promote social change through non violent means. Also in 1992, she published two books. One is called My Story and the other Quiet Strength. I feel that quiet strength is what she executed that day on the bus. In 2000, the State of Alabama awarded Rosa Parks the Governor's Medal of Honor for Extraordinary Courage.

This site focuses on the preparation for the boycott. The day Rosa Parks was arrested 300 women from the Women's Political Council were ready to get the word out. The Women's Political Council was a group that was created in 1946. This group was created when dozens of black people were getting arrested on buses. 35,000 circulars were made to get people together to start the boycott.

This article gives information about the famous picture of Rosa Parks on the bus. After seeing this picture its safe to assume that this was the day that Rosa Parks felt that she would not get up from her seat. And that the man in the picture was either the bus driver or an angry white man disturbed because of where Rosa was sitting. However the man in the picture was not the driver nor an angry white man. He was a reporter and his name was Nicholas C. Chriss. This historic picture was the day after the Supreme Court ruled that segregated busing was illegal. That day was December 21, 1956.

This site contains several inspirational quotes by Rosa Parks. My favorite quote is "I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear". This quote could apply to anything , scoring a goal , passing a test or winning a race. I feel that the day Rosa choose to stand her ground and refuse to leave her seat explains the meaning of this quote

This is a powerful website. It presents the reader with biographies, images and archives of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which Rosa Parks served as the catalyst for. This website tells the stories of a portion of the hundreds of other people involved in this movement. Rosa Parks is often dubbed as the mother of civil rights but there are many others who were involved and very seldom are they talked about. This website shares the voices of people who were there in the midst of it and people who were affected, such as children sharing memories of deceased parents. There are video clips and articles, it's really a treasure.

On my search to discover other facts about Park's I came across, that she had a prior encounter with James Blake the bus driver who demanded Mrs. Park's to give up her seat. Rosa Parks was removed from Blake's bus in 1943 after she refused to enter through the back of the bus after paying in the front. Then in 1957, weeks after her arrest Mrs. Parks lost her job because of the boycott, although personnel of the department store said it was not so. Rosa Park's and her family was then forced to moved from Montgomery Alabama, to Detroit Michigan after receiving death threats, and her husband being forced to quit his job due to the fact that his wife was the main cause of the boycott. In 2005 on the 1st of December Rosa Park's passed in Detroit. Transportation authorities in New York City, Washington, D.C. and other cities in the US symbolically left the seats behind bus drivers empty to commemorate Parks' act of civil disobedience. This site is useful in exploring this week's image because it shows that Mrs. Park's decision to not give up her seat was based on prior facts of ill-treatment. This site also paints how change can affect societal norms, towards what is initially right for all. Heidi Beckles

This site focus's on who Rosa really was. She was raised by two parents and born in Alabama. Rosa had one sibling and she and was home schooled until she was eleven years old. As a child she suffered from chronic tonsillitis. There was no surprise when Rosa decided to take her famous stand , considering that at an early age she figured out that there was a white world and a black one. She witnessed segregation everywhere from transportation, education and most community services. Not being blind to what was going on around her made her become a member of the civil rights movement in 1943. She joined a group called the NAACP and became the secretary to the president. She held that position until 1957.

This site and blog is relevant to our discussion on race and an analysis of the image at hand as it provides us with the background information of race in America and the influence that Rosa Parks had in this regard. Specifically, the site discusses the actions of Rosa Parks and the context in which she lived in how she challenged the Jim Crow Laws and how her actions helped spark the movement that would change American society and culture. The site also provides some background information on the famous photo that we are analyzing in this unit. The contextual and background information provided in this site is useful with our analysis in this unit.

This source and site is very pertinent as it provides information on the life of Rosa Parks before and after the Montgomery Bus incident and subsequent boycott and the impact her legacy remains with us today. In particular, this source provides both video of a segment done on the subject as well as the text transcript. The reason that this site and source is important and relevant to the analysis of the image at hand is due to the fact that it provides us with the context of Rosa's struggle and how her struggle helped change the nature of America. This is a very relevant source that helps us place ourselves in the shoes of Rosa Parks and the struggle that she fought and overcome.

This site provides an overview of the life of Rosa Parks and the impact that she had on the civil rights movement and the impact that she continues to have in today. This site is extremely useful in exploring the image on hand as it provides the context and background of Rosa's life and experiences and how this culminated in the image and impact that Rosa Parks has for many of us today. In addition, it provides information on the image in that the photo in question is a historic photo that was staged for the purposes of history and meaning. This site provides swaths of extremely useful information and is extremely relevant for our discussion at hand.

This article is a very important article that helps cover and highlight both the influence that Rosa Parks had on the civil rights movement but most importantly helps answer the question as to who the man was behind Rosa Parks in the timeless image that we have been analyzing in this unit. This site and article is especially useful in exploring the image in question as the entire article helps to highlight and explain the image in question. As the article notes, the man in the image is not a segregationist as some may assume to be, but rather is Nicholas C. Chriss who was a reporter working at the time in covering the Civil Rights movement. Details of Mr. Chriss and the meaning of the picture is detailed and explained throughout the article.