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54 brparents.com | february 2016 rosa lee
parks
(1913-2005) after her re- fusal to give up her bus seat to a white man in 1955, rosa
parks
?s arrest sparked the na- tional civil rights movement leading to a supreme court ruling that montgomery?s segregation laws were uncon- stitutional. ironically, rosa
parks
was not even seated in the ?whites only? section of the bus that day. after the whites-only section filled up leaving a white man stand- ing, the bus driver demand- ed that
parks
and three oth- ers move in order to create an additional ?white row.? ?e other three obeyed;
parks
did not.
parks
later debunked the myth that her refusal was be- cause she was old and
tired
. ?i was not
tired
physically, or no more
tired
than i usually was at the end of a working day. i was not old...i was 42. no, the only
tired
i was, was
tired
of giving in.? when she died at age 92 in 2005, she became the first woman in the na- tion?s history to lie in state at the u.s. capitol. booker t. washington (1856-1915) although book- er t. washington was born a slave in virginia, he rose to become one of the most influential african-ameri- can intellectuals in the late 1800s. he founded the tuske- gee institute, a black school in alabama for teachers, and the national negro business league in his lifelong fight to bring economic self-reliance to african americans. ?e au- tobiography up from slavery is a powerful work by this bril- liant man who would become so respected that he served as an adviser to presidents ?eo- dore roosevelt and william howard taft. ? jackie
robinson
(1919-72) jackie
robinson
became the first african american to play in major league baseball in 1947. in doing so, he broke the so-called ?color barrier? in what was significantly called ?ameri- ca?s favorite pastime.? ?is had a huge impact as the whole world was judging the free world who had just toppled nazi germa- ny.
robinson
also became an officer in the segregated u. s. army where he caused a na- tional political incident when he was court-martialed for re- fusing to sit at the back of the bus at an army base. ?e army was forced to drop the charg- es. on the 60th anniversary of
robinson
becoming a brook- lyn dodger, over 200 mlb play- ers and managers of all nation- alities wore
robinson
?s re
tired
number 42 on their uniforms to honor him. harriet tubman (1820-1913) called the ?moses of her people,? this powerful escaped slave?s name is literally synonymous with the underground rail- road. as a nurse, scout, and spy in the civil war, harri- et tubman helped free more than 300 slaves. her name struck fear in slaveowners whom she eluded despite a 40 thousand dollar bounty on her head. with her unwaver- ing slogan, ?my people must go free,? harriet tubman never lost a fugitive nor did she ever let one turn back.
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