Definition

Proper noun: * Rosa Parks: An American civil rights activist. She is historically significant for her act of civil disobedience on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, when she refused to obey a bus driver's order to give up her seat in the "colored section" to a white passenger after the whites-only section was full. Her arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a pivotal event in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.

Usage Examples

• Proper noun:
  • The courage of Rosa Parks inspired a generation to fight for equality.
  • Many schools teach about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
  • A statue was erected in honor of Rosa Parks.

Advanced Usage

• "the Rosa Parks moment": A phrase used metaphorically to describe a seemingly small act of defiance that becomes a major catalyst for widespread social or political change.
  • The protest was not large, but many saw it as the Rosa Parks moment for the environmental movement.

Variants and Related Words

• Parks, Rosa Louise McCauley Parks: The full name of the activist.
• "the mother of the civil rights movement": An honorary title often given to Rosa Parks.

Synonyms

• Civil rights icon: A person who is a widely recognized symbol of the struggle for civil rights.
• Activist: A person who campaigns to bring about political or social change.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• To take a Rosa Parks stand: To refuse to comply with an unjust rule or system in a peaceful, principled manner.
  • By refusing to sign the unfair contract, she was taking a Rosa Parks stand.

Noun

1. United States civil rights leader who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery (Alabama) and so triggered the national Civil Rights movement (born in 1913)