This insightful and revealing first full-length biography of Rosa Parks shatters all the myths about her that began with her arrest in Montgomery in 1955. Rosa Parks may have been shy, may not have worn her angry militancy on her sleeve, but she was never apolitical. She was never the accidental activist, the mild-mannered seamstress too tired to give up her seat on the bus as depicted in the "national fable" of her life. Rosa's intense resentment of and lifelong resistance to racial injustice was instilled in her from an early age by her grandparents and parents. She made a living as a skilled tailor but her lifelong vocation was fighting for equality with the NAACP, the Montgomery Improvement Association, the Black Power movement, and a hundred other organizations and campaigns to which she selflessly offered her time and talent. Theoharis chronicles Rosa's lifelong activism from working with the NAACP in Alabama and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, to her leadership in civil rights activities in Detroit, her involvement in the Black Power movement, campaigns for black political candidates, and more. Theoharis also reveals the terrible economic, emotional, and physical toll Rosa's tireless activism had upon her and her husband Raymond. This is the story of the real Rosa Parks, the one everyone should know.
Peace, Love & Books
My life is mostly bibliocentric. My major area of reading interest is children's and young adult literature but I also read plent of adult books, too, particularly nonfiction. I am originally from New Jersey. I moved to Memphis in 1991 to attend graduate school. That is where I met my wonderful wife, Judy to whom I have been married since 1993. In my professional life I have taught high school English, undergraduate courses in composition and literature, graduate courses in children's and young adult literature, and worked as a librarian in public, school, and special libraries. At the momement, I devote my time to writing, teaching, and speaking. I have an extensive collection of Chuck Taylor hightop sneakers of various colors and I also collect PEZ dispensers. I live with my wife and two cats in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
This insightful and revealing first full-length biography of Rosa Parks shatters all the myths about her that began with her arrest in Montgomery in 1955. Rosa Parks may have been shy, may not have worn her angry militancy on her sleeve, but she was never apolitical. She was never the accidental activist, the mild-mannered seamstress too tired to give up her seat on the bus as depicted in the "national fable" of her life. Rosa's intense resentment of and lifelong resistance to racial injustice was instilled in her from an early age by her grandparents and parents. She made a living as a skilled tailor but her lifelong vocation was fighting for equality with the NAACP, the Montgomery Improvement Association, the Black Power movement, and a hundred other organizations and campaigns to which she selflessly offered her time and talent. Theoharis chronicles Rosa's lifelong activism from working with the NAACP in Alabama and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, to her leadership in civil rights activities in Detroit, her involvement in the Black Power movement, campaigns for black political candidates, and more. Theoharis also reveals the terrible economic, emotional, and physical toll Rosa's tireless activism had upon her and her husband Raymond. This is the story of the real Rosa Parks, the one everyone should know.
