Rosa Parks’ College Years: the Educational Journey of a Civil Rights Icon

People all over the world think of Rosa Parks when they want to be brave determined or fight for human rights. Most people know her for the famous time in Montgomery Alabama in 1955 when she wouldn’t give up her bus place. Fewer people know about her schooling though which was a big part of how she became the strong woman she was.

Rose was born in Tuskegee Alabama on February 4 1913. She grew up in a time when segregation was the rule.

Rosa’s mother Leona Edwards McCauley was a teacher and taught her a lot of respect for learning. Rosa knew early on how important it was to learn. She started out going to schools in the country and then when she was eleven she went to the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls. The women from the north ran this private school that focused on both academic and practical education. Rosa learned how important it is to respect herself and treat others with respect.

Rosa went to Montgomery Industrial School and then Booker T. Washington High School to finish her schooling. Unfortunately life gave her some problems to solve. Rosa dropped out of high school to take care of her sick grandma and then her mother. Even though these things went wrong her desire to teach never went away. Later she took classes at Alabama State Teachers College for Black People which is now called Alabama State University. She didn’t get a degree but the time there helped her become even more dedicated to justice and human rights.

However Rosa’s education didn’t end with going to school. It included her neighborhood and the civil rights movement as a whole. The Montgomery chapter of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) became her organization’s secretary in 1943. As a result she got to see the civil rights movement firsthand and worked closely with leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and E.D. Nixon.

Participating in the NAACP was a learning experience in and of itself. Rosa went to classes at the Tennessee Highlander Folk School which was a place where civil rights workers could learn. That’s where she learned about peaceful protests and how to make them work which were very helpful during the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Rosa’s road through school was marked by determination and a never-ending thirst for information despite many challenges. She learned to value herself and believe she had the same rights as everyone else in school. The official and casual schooling she got gave her the strength to fight against the systemic crimes of her time.

She did not decide on the spot to refuse to give up her bus seat. Instead she did it after years of studying watching and being involved in the civil rights movement. Rosa Parks’ schooling gave her the knowledge and courage to stand up which has made her a lasting figure of resistance.

Rosa Parks’s path to education shows us that learning doesn’t have to happen in a classroom. It includes what you’ve learned from your family friends and own life. In a broad sense her life shows us how education can give people the power to change society.

Rosa Parks left behind a powerful legacy that shows how important education is in the fight for justice and freedom. As a strong reminder of how seeking knowledge can lead to making important gifts to society her story shows that education is in fact a very important tool in the fight for human rights.

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