Rosa Parks: A Life

Rosa Parks is a name we should know. As an icon of the civil rights movement, her legendary refusal to give up her seat on the segregated bus started one of the greatest revolutions since the Civil War. Many of us a familiar with this non-assuming woman who was the catalyst in inspiring the careers of Martin Luther King, Jr. and other famous civil rights activists. We are comfortable with the image of the mild mannered Christian woman who always stayed in the background. Ah, but just how much do we really know about Rosa Parks except for the myth created? Are we really appreciative and aware of this woman who has been ignored only to be thought of again when politically expedient for others? Douglas Brinkley, in this short concise biography, removes the shroud of obscurity and myth about Rosa Parks. For the first time we are shown that the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement" was more militant than we suspect. A highly intelligent and organized person, Mrs. Parks was an activist long before her famous bus ride and was very informed about what was going on in the movement locally as well as globally. The Rosa Parks presented in this text had a great aura of spirituality, strength and dignity that exuded calm during a period of unrest. Misunderstood by her peers and her friends Rosa Parks emerged as the underlying spirit that enabled the movement to begin its course of action. We learn about the Rosa Parks who was a quiet young woman but had a fierce anger against injustice. She stayed an activist throughout her life inspite of the personal hardships in her marriage and with her mother.She is a woman of great spiritual strength and power. Brinkley presents us with a portrait of a woman that we never knew and have come to rediscover.

Every American should know the story of Rosa Parks and all the people who helped dismantle Jim Crow and raise the dignity of all Americans. This is a fascinating and enlightening book that would serve well to be a part of every American's library. Despite its modest size it packs plenty of details most likely not part of the familar Rosa Parks lore. For instance, the bus driver James Blake had previously had a run in with her 12 years earlier and had since become a person she avoided. Also she had attended non violence resistance workshops at a School in Tennesee before her arrest. That her father had left when she was a child and that her husband was a barber who later had a drinking problem. These details give us insight to the human being Rosa Parks was and is today. The most important thing I got from this book is that courage, intelligence and hard work of many people are required to change society for the better.

The preceding reviewers of this little book sum the whole darn thing up nicely. So I thought I'd pipe up to say YES! I wholeheartedly agree that this is a delightful book. It, in fact, has inspired me to embark upon what is becomming a "phase" of reading on the subject of the African-American experience. I even went so far as to walk the African-American Freedom Trail (a National Park) in Boston, MA while I was here on business! This is the stuff that public school educations SHOULD be made of.P.S. I can't wait to get my hands on the Penguin Lives book on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..

For those of us who have not experienced the segregated South of the early 50's, this slim volume paints a vivid picture of what life was like for Rosa Parks. Thorough research gives us a rich picture of the influences of the people and forces in her life. Far from being a tired seamstress, it portrays Mrs. Parks as a bright and inquisitive woman, willing to risk everything for what she believed. Disappointments and disillusionment are also chronicled, but we never lose sight of her essential strength.

The most recent in the highly-praised "Penguin Lives" series, Douglas Brinkley's brilliant portrait of Rosa Parks is an example of biography at its best. Brinkley's breathtaking research and literary skill are combined in this book to produce a narrative that not only vividly paints the story of Rosa Parks' life, but that also illuminates the complexities of the Civil Rights Movement of which she was an important part. Beginning with her youth in Tuskegee, Alabama, Brinkley adroitly weaves together the details from Rosa Parks' life which shaped her character and her values. In elegant prose, he depicts the path that led to the legendary day in 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to move from her seat on a segregated bus; he then leads the reader through the journey of the Montgomery bus boycott and the half century Ms. Parks has lived since. This slim biography manages to trace the significance of figures from Booker T. Washington, to Martin Luther King, Jr., to Nelson Mandela in Rosa Parks' experience without ever losing focus on Ms. Parks herself. It compellingly shows that Parks' religious faith and her unwavering strength of character are essential keys to understanding her life and worldview. Brinkley's "Rosa Parks", however, is not a mere hagiography of an American heroine. The rare interviews that the author obtained from Rosa Parks and the extensive research that he unearthed throughout Alabama and Detroit, where Ms.Parks has lived for many years, provide the foundation for a biography that contains both individual depth and historical breadth. This beautifully written book is certain to become a classic for lay readers and scholars alike.