Rosa Parks was an African American civil rights activist and a pioneer in the American civil rights movement. She was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama, and grew up in a time when segregation and discrimination against African Americans were widespread in the United States.

Parks became involved in the civil rights movement at a young age, and she was particularly inspired by the activism of leaders like W.E.B. Du Bois and Mary McLeod Bethune. She joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in the 1940s and worked as a secretary for the organization's Montgomery chapter.

Parks' name became synonymous with the civil rights movement after an incident on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama. After a long day of work as a seamstress, Parks was sitting in the front of a bus, a section reserved for African Americans. When a white passenger boarded the bus and there were no seats in the white section, the bus driver demanded that Parks and three other African American passengers give up their seats. Parks refused, and she was arrested for violating the city's segregation laws.

Parks' arrest sparked a boycott of the Montgomery bus system by African Americans, who refused to ride the buses until the segregation laws were changed. The boycott lasted for over a year and was led by Martin Luther King Jr., who was a young minister at the time. The boycott was ultimately successful, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional.

Parks' act of civil disobedience inspired other African Americans to join the fight for equality, and her name became synonymous with the civil rights movement. She became known as the "Mother of the Freedom Movement" and was awarded numerous honors and awards for her activism, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.

Parks continued to be involved in activism throughout her life, and she worked to promote equality and justice for all people, regardless of race. She died on October 24, 2005, at the age of 92, but her legacy lives on. Her name is remembered as a symbol of courage and determination in the face of adversity, and she continues to inspire people all over the world to work for a more just and equitable society.

Rosa Parks' life and work serve as a powerful reminder of the importance of speaking out against injustice and working for change. Her bravery and determination inspired a generation of civil rights activists, and her legacy continues to inspire people to this day. Parks' simple act of refusing to give up her seat on a bus sparked a movement that changed the course of American history and helped to bring about a more just and equal society.