Rosa Parks was a civil rights leader whose refusal to give up her seat to a white

passenger on a segregated bus led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Her

bravery led to nationwide efforts to end racism. Parks was awarded the Martin
Luther King Jr. Award.

When Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat in 1955, it wasn’t the first
time she’d clashed with driver James Blake. Parks stepped onto his very
crowded bus on a chilly day 12 years earlier, paid her fare at the front, then
resisted the rule in place for Black people to disembark and re-enter through
the back door. She stood her ground until Blake pulled her coat sleeve,
enraged, to demand her cooperation. Parks left the bus rather than give in.