rosa parks and the bus boycott | Teen Ink

rosa parks and the bus boycott

February 12, 2014
By loveya345, Watsonville, California
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loveya345, Watsonville, California
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Author's note: my insparation was my ela teacheer ms.aschliman

I had just sat at the 11th seat in the bus when I had seen four white people walk in there were no more seats for the whites to sit up front so the driver had told me to give up my seat but I did not. I had been refusing to leave my seat and give it up to a white. I had argued with the driver for a long period of time then he had decided to go out to the payphone outside and call the police. the police had then came and asked john " who is the women you say did not obey your orders." he pointed over to me the police gasped and said it was a whites seat but it was not true. the whites had the front 10 seats I sat I the 11th that is the reason why i had refused to move. The police had told me you better move miss or you will get in serious trouble and go to jail." I still refused to move I told day and Mixon " this seat is not reserved for whites so you can't tell me to move if it does not belong to them". Day and Mixon had both told me"you're under arrest ms.parks for not obeying orders from a bus driver and police officers. I had asked them if I could talk to my lawyer and they had just ignored me and took me to jail. I had nothing to do so I got out my diary from my bag and wrote in it.

Day 1 December 1,1955,
I had been thrown in jail for not obeying orders but why did I have to I gave them a reason why I did not have to move. that seat was not for the whites I wonder how they are all feeling right now they probably don't even care if I went to jail for no good reason. If there are so many white people in our city why don't they just make the first 13 seats for the whites so then we won't get blamed for being in their seat when we can be behind them. I wonder if my family or anyone is worried about me at all .do they even know I am in jail? Do they know why ?
The police came up to me and told me I can make one phone call so I did I called my families house and my mother answered the first thing she asked was "did they beat you." I had told her everything that happened then the phone had hung up and it was day he told me times up and I went back to my cell. I had wondered was everyone else timed or have a certain amount of time they needed for a phone call? Why do we even need to be timed do they not want us to tell the bad things that they did? I had heard that my arrest had turned into a rally which only my kind african american people had started a bus boycott.

Dear diary,
it is december 2nd, 1955, It is very loud outside because all the people are still having a boycott about my arrest and the incident that had happened in the bus. I am so happy to hear people say my name they all have a reason to I had become known more than ever before and I loved the feeling of what I have created. I had created a rally of my kind to fight for our rights we should all be treated the same why don’t the whites like us we are a little darker but that does not matter what really matters is that we are all humans. we should all learn to be kind to each other no matter what race we are or religion. Why do whites think they are better? That reason is because they are all treated as royalty and we are all the fools. Everyone else sees something that can be changed we all have different feelings about how we are being treated or the way we are living. Day had came from the office and he told me that we were on our way to the U.S. District court. I was so happy I can talk to my lawyer about what had happened and how we can fix this whole problem. My lawyer and I had done some talking and my lawyer found an appeal. A panel of three judges in the U.S. District Court for the region ruled in another case that racial segregation of public buses was unconstitutional. Then Day and Mixon had sent me back to my cell and I had seen the newspaper about how Martin luther king jr. had said that “we fight with kindness and they will then feel peaceful and we will no longer ride the buses until we have our right.”

dear diary,
it is December 3, 1955. I can’t believe that martin had done that and all because of me that was kind and generous of him to do. No one rode the buses every white person seemed more happy which had meant they are getting more peaceful. All of our hard work is really starting to pay off I can't believe that it is all working I thought it would turn out to be a fail but it was not.

( 381 days later)
Finally I am free, Free to be who I want to be IT all worked we got what we wanted we all got our rights. I felt good for everything it was a small problem and turned out as a happy ending. When I went home my mother run up to me and was so happy to see me she was also proud of what I had done it was a big risk but I did it I took that risk I could have been in jail for a longer time but The “fight” was over we had won. The next day i went to the Dexter ave. church to talk to Martin Luther King JR. how much I appreciate what he had done to help me and how brave he was to take a risk that was similar to the risk I had taken. Martin Luther King JR. had told me “ if I were you I would have done the same. that seat did not belong to the whites it belonged to our kind.” I was so happy to hear him say that he really was an inspiration to me and I was an inspiration to him. We both had tried to solve another problem that had been happening like we should be able to go to the same schools as whites and live the way the whites live then we will all be treated as royalty We all wonder how that feels it looks as if they love the way they live. they can do anything they want and they will get in less trouble that we all do because of our skin color. After a while people had started to call me “ the mother of the civil rights movement.” Martin Luther king JR. was known as “ the father of the civil rights movement.” when this all happened he was only 26 years old I am 16 years older than Martin. Ever since the boycott happened I think that my life and everyone other than the white race had a little bit of a better life but even a little bit is a good change.

Dear mother, I am having a very happy day. I wish I could see you again but I have gone on to a different path a path that will help my name become even more known. I will be okay I am with Martin the priest he will be with me all the way. How are you doing. I know I left 20 minutes ago but I love you so much to say goodbye you were always by my side when I needed you. You are a very great mother who deserves to live a good life and to have a daughter who cares for you. You have one of those which is me I am very grateful to have you as my mother.
Love ,
Rosa Parks
Dear diary I have left my home for 2 years and I really miss my mama I wonder how she is doing I have sent her many birthday cards hope sh see them and writes back to me. I miss her blue eyes that sparkle , her brown flowy hair that shines as beautiful as the sun and her voice as soft as a humming bird. I really hope she was here with me so she can see how much I have done to help others that are not our kind but that does not matter. people here are very kind and help out alot but that is only if you help them.
I am so happy to finally get my mamas letter I just can’t wait to read what she thinks of me and what I have accomplished.

Dear Rosa, You are doing so wonderful I am proud of you no matter what you do. you can do a lot to help the world and your name is known by everyone here and most of all me. I really want you to come and visit me some time I miss you soo much. Thank you for all of my birthday cards I love them all But why did you make so many 10 Is a lot all I need for my birthday is to know that my daughter loves me. Hope you have a great day my little baby girl.
love,
MaMa

The author's comments:
Dear Day, how are you doing I really hope you are feeling okay. I heard you were sick and I did not know if you wanted to be around me since the bus boycott. I am very sorry for what I did that day but we all have our own beliefs and rights and that was one of my beliefs. I hope you will live longer so I can take you to eat out I really do feel bad and it is all hurting me.Can you also tell Mixon I said “Hello” I haven’t seen him in a while. I really hope you do not pass away from the disease. Wish you the best. sincerely, Rosa Parks

I will go see my mama someday when I have really done something good in this world. I might even go see her in a month. I dont have to do anything good to please her she is pleased by me for being who I am and that is all she wants from me. All I want from her is for her to be happy with the great life she has and is still living. Who care about all my work I am well known by the most important person in my life which is my mother. I can’t go see her now because I am too busy with all my work. I can stop working but this is important what I am working on also means a lot to me. I love helping others out so much it is just a hobbie of mine I do it too much sometimes well all the time. I will go on my mamas birthday as a surprise tell her “ I can’t make it this year I am too busy helping Martin with his work sorry “ then I will go to see her and she will be so happy to see me. She will just love the gift I will soon give her but you have to wait till next month. You have to wait and see what happens. I wonder will she be surprised or will she be very happy and have a heart attack I don't want that to happen.
(1 month later)
I had got the box wrapped and ready to send to my mothers house. I went to the train station and show the conductor where the box is going he told me he would take it right away. I had asked him if I could ride along because the gift inside is fragile and he let me have a ride so I went in the box and hid. When the train had stopped the conductor had wondered where I went he Gave the package to my mother and said” special delivery” my mother wondered what it was and she read the name of who sent it and it had said “ Rosa Parks.” I had heard my mother say “oh how sweet of her I wish she was here to see me open my gift.” My mother opened her gift and I had popped out she was so happy to see me I gave her a big hug and said “happy Birthday mama.” I got out of the box and told my mom that I will make dinner today and bake a cake for her. I had made a salad, croissants, chicken, and we drank that all with some green tea. It was very delicious and I was so happy to see my mom so surprised that I had cooked. The cake I made was super delicious and it was red velvet, with white icing and cherries on top. I also wrote “happy birthday mama” I also told her how much I love her and why I love her. the main reason is she has done so much for me and will do the same for her. My mama always told me treat people the way you want to be treated so I did I treat everyone I know with respect even the unkind. When my mama ran out of eggs to make for breakfast I had left to go buy some eggs. Then all of the sudden I see people run up to me and give me a hug and they are all the african americans they were so happy to see me they told me how much they miss me and I found out I was being learned about at school. The reason I was being learned about was because of the bus boycott. I was happy to hear that I am known by all the people I love. I went to the store and got eggs ernie let me have the eggs for free for what I had done. I was so happy that I had some royalty not as much as the whites do but I still have a little. I now know why the whites love their life and that is because royalty is great.
(one week later )
I now know why whites don’t really like their life after a while. If you have too much royalty you start to get over it because it is just the same each and everyday. I wanted to live the way the whites did but now i want to leave but also don’t want to leave home. The reason i want to leave is because I have too much attention , and the reason I don’t want to leave is because I just got here a week ago and I want to stay with my mama for as long as I have been gone. The only thing that is stopping me from staying is the attention I have caught. I dont even know why I liked it in the first place. I probably liked it because it seemed so fun and easy to live but once you live it it ain’t all that fun after all.I just wish my life would go back to its original way. that is the better way to live yeah you should live the way you want but you should also live the way you have to. The way you have to live is the ordinary you and family no attention just a little from your parents that is all the attention you need. You do not need the “whole world’s” attention because then that will be too much to deal with. you will have to help others in different ways and some people may be very picky on the way they want to live. If you need help in your life just ask a parent or if it is a small problem you can deal with it all by yourself. You are not a baby no more grow up that i show I learned what to do. All I need to do to make my life better is to grow up and face the facts that I have done something good and I am being notice which is just what I wanted. I am “mother of the civil rights movement” I will learn to deal my problems. I had heard that Day was sick and had smallpox. I did not know if I should visit so Instead I wrote a letter to him about how sorry I am for him and he is so old poor guy his time is running out he is 95 years old.

When I saw my mama on the sofa I had told her the bad news. My mama looked sadder than ever before she did not want me to go but I had to Martin sent me a letter saying he needed my help and immediately. I did not stay for a month but it was close enough I just had 1 more week to go. I told my mama I would write to her everyday to see how she was doing but if she does not respond I no why. Yes my mama is old she is even older than Day she has lived a great healthy life before she will pass any day now. She only has 3 months to live but some people don’t live as long as they are supposed to their body will soon give out. I had finished packing and I went to the train station but before I had left I gave mama a big hug and kiss on the cheek I said to her “ I love you mama” she told me “ I love you baby” mama was crying non-stop but I could not stay Martin needed my help and I need this job. Martin had sent me a letter saying “ he had became a priest at another church but he can’t pronounce the name very well.” I was so happy for him being a priest was his destiny and being helpful was mine. People all live life their own special way.

Dear diary,
I am on the train waiting till I get home. I do not want to go back but I am needed and when I am needed I am there to help. Martin needs me it is an emergency. I was so sad that I had to leave my mama if I took her with me they would take her house because she would not be living there anymore. She will still live there but if she leaves with me for a week they will think she left and take her house. I dont want that to happen because that house has so many memories of when I was little and getting older. That house means a lot to me and my mama if we lose it we will have nothing to live with we can make memories now but we are all old now and there will be nothing fun to do because my mama can barely move. I love her so much to risk doing something like that after this is over I will go back and see her I can’t live without her she means alot to me. I had gotten home and martin was there on the couch I ask what happened he sounded like he was crying but he stood up and yelled “happy birthday.” I was happy he had remembered my birthday but I was sad because I had left my mama. I stayed for a bit and told Martin “I need to go I left my mama for this I liked it but I thought I was needed.” I got my bag and headed back for the train I was happy to go back to my real home and see my mama. I had got there and my mama was on the couch I ran up and gave her a hug but she was not breathing, she did not move. She had just been on the couch sitting I cried I called the nurse and he had told me she has passed she was crying you can she the dry teardrops. I asked him how she died he said her heart was broken which meant she had a heart attack. this was all my fault I had left for 1 hour and I come back she is dead why does this have to happen to me she was supposed for 6 months I knew she would not last she was too old. My mama loved her daughter so much she had died. My mother would be very happy to see me right now. I really don’t know what I would do without her now I am going to find out because she is no longer with me. I wanted my mother to be with me always but that won’t happen. I sent martin a letter saying why I can't ever go back. I can't go back or else they will take my mothers house. I just can’t let that happen it means so much for me to just let go I have lived here all my life and I will live the rest of my life her



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