On the morning of December 1, 1955, hardly anyone in Rosa Parks s home town of Montgomery, Alabama had heard of her. By the time that night fell, she was on her way to becoming a household word all over the United States. That morning, she had refused to give up her bus seat to a white person on the bus she was riding. Rosa, who was African American, was tired of being pushed around because of the color of her skin. The news of her arrest spread like wildfire. African American leaders decided to urge their fellow African Americans not to ride the buses until they were treated equally. It took a year, but the movement that Rosa Parks began ended in triumph. She became a leading figure in the Civil Rights movement. When she died in 2005, her coffin lay in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.
