Meet Rosa Parks, the woman hero of February! Rosa Parks was born on 4 February 1913. She was an activist in Civil Rights Movement. She was called “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement” by the United States Congress.

On 1 December 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to obey bus driver James F. Blake’s order to give her seat in the “colored section” to a white passenger because the whites-only section of the bus was filled. Rosa Parks was then arrested for violating Alabama segregation laws. Her act and her arrest fueled the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a campaign to protest the policy of segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. The campaign was started on 5 December 1955 until 20 December 1956.

Rosa Parks’ act of defiance became the important symbol of the modern Civil Rights Movement. She also became the international symbol of resistance to racial segregation. She organized and collaborated with civil rights leaders, among them were Edgar Nixon, president of the local chapter of NAACP or National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Rosa Parks’ act was not without consequences. She was fired from her job. She also received death threats for years afterwards. But Rosa Parks did not let it stop her. She continued to be active in Civil Rights Movement, including in Black Power movement and the support of political prisoners in the US.

Rosa Parks inspired us to never give in to any injustice. To continue to fight for your belief, eventhough there were many challenges and hardships!