Rosa Parks

The planned nature of Rosa Parks’ refusal does not make it less courageous. Rosa Parks’ courage came from a conscious decision to take a stand, face jail, and pursue broader change. Her action combined principle, personal risk, strategic action, and persistence. Civil rights activism in Alabama in the 1950s and 1960s was life-threatening. Rosa Parks’ stand involved bodily danger, including possible violence against her and people close to her. Rosa Parks is presented as a central example of both moral and physical courage.