BSU hosts ‘The Rosa Parks Story’
0Written By Summer Maynard
On Tuesday, Feb. 13, the BSU hosted a viewing of “The Rosa Parks Story” as a part of their month-long events celebrating, honoring and educating others about Black History Month. The biopic tells the story of civil rights activist Rosa Parks and her lifelong achievements fighting and battling against racial inequality. The movie showcased her personal struggles and the hardships she faced, from her days as a private-school student to her public battle against racism and segregation as a secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), where Parks defended local children who had been victimized by racism
She is most famously known for the Montgomery Bus Boycott which was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Ala. The campaign lasted a little over a year, from Dec. 5, 1955—the Monday after Parks was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat to a white person—until Dec. 20, 1956 when a federal ruling, Browder v. Gayle, took effect, and led to a United States Supreme Court decision which declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws that segregated buses were unconstitutional.
“I think she was a brave woman who grew tired of the injustice that they were facing. Because of the strong people like her—we have the freedoms we do today, ” BSU President William Wheeler said.
Parks—year after her death—remains as one of the most notable voices and faces for her fight for equality. In her lifetime, she received national recognition including the NAACP’s 1979 Spingarn Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal and a statue in the National Statuary Hall.