Feb 4th 2020

Rosa Parks Day is an American holiday in honor of the civil rights leader Rosa Parks. 

Rosa Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was a seamstress by profession; she was also the secretary for the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP. Twelve years before her history-making arrest, Parks was stopped from boarding a city bus by driver James F. Blake, who ordered her to board at the back door and then drove off without her. Parks vowed never again to ride a bus driven by Blake. 

On December 1, 1955, Parks was sitting in the front-most row for black people. When a Caucasian man boarded the bus, the bus driver told everyone in her row to move back. At that moment, Parks realized that she was again on a bus driven by Blake. While all of the other black people in her row complied, Parks refused, and was arrested^[8] for failing to obey the driver's seat assignments. Found guilty on December 5,^[9] Parks was fined $10 plus a court cost of $4,^[10] but she appealed.

Rosa Park's action gained notoriety leading to 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, Alabama. The campaign lasted from December 1, 1955—when Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat to a white person—to December 20, 1956, when the United States Supreme Court decision declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses to be unconstitutional.The 381-day boycott almost bankrupted the bus company and effectively made segregation in buses unconstitutional and illegal.

Rosa Parks Day was created by the California State Legislature and first celebrated in 2000.



The day took a wrong turn
Around 2:30 when I fell asleep.

I spent the morning running errands.
Banking, pick ups
And pre-orders for Valentine's.

I made chicken pram sandwiches
With salad and wedges for supper.

Then off to a fundraiser
For a local wildlife rescue.

Now I am sitting here
Really needing some munchies.

Good night from John Street