Customer Reviews

Rosa Parks

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The most recent in the highly-praised "Penguin Lives" series, Douglas Brinkley's brilliant portrait of Rosa Parks is an example of biography at its best. Brinkley's breathtaking research and literary skill are combined in this book to produce a narrative that not only vividly paints the story of Rosa Parks' life, but that also illuminates the complexities of the Civil Rights Movement of which she was an important part. Beginning with her youth in Tuskegee, Alabama, Brinkley adroitly weaves together the details from Rosa Parks' life which shaped her character and her values. In elegant prose, he depicts the path that led to the legendary day in 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to move from her seat on a segregated bus; he then leads the reader through the journey of the Montgomery bus boycott and the half century Ms. Parks has lived since. This slim biography manages to trace the significance of figures from Booker T. Washington, to Martin Luther King, Jr., to Nelson Mandela in Rosa Parks' experience without ever losing focus on Ms. Parks herself. It compellingly shows that Parks' religious faith and her unwavering strength of character are essential keys to understanding her life and worldview. Brinkley's "Rosa Parks", however, is not a mere hagiography of an American heroine. The rare interviews that the author obtained from Rosa Parks and the extensive research that he unearthed throughout Alabama and Detroit, where Ms.Parks has lived for many years, provide the foundation for a biography that contains both individual depth and historical breadth. This beautifully written book is certain to become a classic for lay readers and scholars alike.

For those of us who have not experienced the segregated South of the early 50's, this slim volume paints a vivid picture of what life was like for Rosa Parks. Thorough research gives us a rich picture of the influences of the people and forces in her life. Far from being a tired seamstress, it portrays Mrs. Parks as a bright and inquisitive woman, willing to risk everything for what she believed. Disappointments and disillusionment are also chronicled, but we never lose sight of her essential strength.

Every American should know the story of Rosa Parks and all the people who helped dismantle Jim Crow and raise the dignity of all Americans. This is a fascinating and enlightening book that would serve well to be a part of every American's library. Despite its modest size it packs plenty of details most likely not part of the familar Rosa Parks lore. For instance, the bus driver James Blake had previously had a run in with her 12 years earlier and had since become a person she avoided. Also she had attended non violence resistance workshops at a School in Tennesee before her arrest. That her father had left when she was a child and that her husband was a barber who later had a drinking problem. These details give us insight to the human being Rosa Parks was and is today. The most important thing I got from this book is that courage, intelligence and hard work of many people are required to change society for the better.

This biography of Rosa Parks presents a very well balanced, fair description of its subject. Regrettably, as with Martin Luther King Jr., social activists and historians have all too often exalted the heroes of the Civil Rights movement beyond the bounds of human existence. This deification is both degrading and unfair, as it not only deprives our heroes of the right to live - and die - as normal human beings, but it also places many of them out of reach - discouraging many to whom them would otherwise serve as excellent role models.

In refreshing contrast to that destructive tendency, this book does an excellent job of peeling back the aura around Rosa Parks and depicting her as the simple, virtuous woman that she is. Brinkley's depiction of her is refreshingly human and honest, and he does a magnificent job of describing her in the simple, straightforward way that so characterizes her.

Also worthy of note is Brinkley's willingness to include so many of Rosa Park's circle of acquaintances in his narrative. From her hard-drinking yet loyal husband to people who have met her only briefly, he touches on their influences on her life, their reaction to her, and what they all mean within the greater scope of her place in our history and society.

Regrettably, whites - with a few notable exceptions - are seen as oppressive, racist boors with a permanent vendetta. Even at that time, that was not true.

Overall, this book is an excellent, enjoyable, and enlightening read - and one that does refreshing justice to the woman and warrior that Rosa Parks is.<P...

The preceding reviewers of this little book sum the whole darn thing up nicely. So I thought I'd pipe up to say YES! I wholeheartedly agree that this is a delightful book. It, in fact, has inspired me to embark upon what is becomming a "phase" of reading on the subject of the African-American experience. I even went so far as to walk the African-American Freedom Trail (a National Park) in Boston, MA while I was here on business! This is the stuff that public school educations SHOULD be made of.

P.S. I can't wait to get my hands on the Penguin Lives book on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..

Rosa Parks is a name we should know. As an icon of the civil rights movement, her legendary refusal to give up her seat on the segregated bus started one of the greatest revolutions since the Civil War. Many of us a familiar with this non-assuming woman who was the catalyst in inspiring the careers of Martin Luther King, Jr. and other famous civil rights activists.

We are comfortable with the image of the mild mannered Christian woman who always stayed in the background. Ah, but just how much do we really know about Rosa Parks except for the myth created? Are we really appreciative and aware of this woman who has been ignored only to be thought of again when politically expedient for others? Douglas Brinkley, in this short concise biography, removes the shroud of obscurity and myth about Rosa Parks. For the first time we are shown that the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement" was more militant than we suspect. A highly intelligent and organized person, Mrs. Parks was an activist long before her famous bus ride and was very informed about what was going on in the movement locally as well as globally.

The Rosa Parks presented in this text had a great aura of spirituality, strength and dignity that exuded calm during a period of unrest. Misunderstood by her peers and her friends Rosa Parks emerged as the underlying spirit that enabled the movement to begin its course of action.

We learn about the Rosa Parks who was a quiet young woman but had a fierce anger against injustice. She stayed an activist throughout her life inspite of the personal hardships in her marriage and with her mother.She is a woman of great spiritual strength and power. Brinkley presents us with a portrait of a woman that we never knew and have come to rediscover.

True Life: Rosa Parks
By: Mariah Sanchious

This book states all the facts about Mrs. Rosa Parks and how she basically struggled to be equal her whole life. Mrs. Parks didn't really understand in her young years, why they happened to be separated by color. As she grew older she began to learn why. Why did she make such a difference in the south? Come experience her growing up memories with me and how she had a huge impact on today's society.

I enjoy this book because it notified me that people struggled to get what I have. Even though Mrs. Parks isn't before Irene Morgan or Claudette Colvin she made her stand up for her rights famous. She went through things like getting kicked out of restaurants to getting threating phone calls. She also cost her husband Raymond Parks his corner barbershop job. She also had KKK mobs running up and down the street throwing fires. She worked all the way on the opposite side of town and she walked six miles everyday until justice was served. As this happened to her, her close friend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's house was burned down. His church also got burned down while two little girls were in the bathroom. She later lost her job and her husband was abused by policeman. She was also aware that her friends got raped and murdered by policeman and nothing would be done about it. A lot of pregnant women would walk a great distance just to protest with the bus boycott. People really believed separate but equal but a lot of African American leader strived to make that change.

I also enjoyed how the book gives specific details on her childhood years. Rosa McCauley was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. She had a mom Leona that was a rural school teacher, and she had a dad James that was a carpenter. In her toddler years her mom and dad separated and Rosa, her younger brother Sylvester, and her mom moved into a farm. They moved in with their former slaved grandparents in Pine Level, Alabama. She was home schooled until she was old enough to realize how the law was. At age eleven she went to an all girl's school with her friend Jonnie Carr. She continued that all girls school until she went to college. She went to Alabama State College for Negroes but had to dropout because her mom and grandmother were diagnosed with a terminal illness. That's when she got a job and married a local barber named Raymond Parks.

I also enjoyed how they showed how much awards she received and how much honor she received when she died. after the Montgomery Bus Boycott,In 1979, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People awarded Parks the Spingarn Medal, its highest honor, and she received the Martin Luther King Sr. Award the next year. She was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 1983 for her achievements as a civil rights activist. She was aslo asked to welcome Nelson Mandela from is imprisoning in South Africa. She also received rthe Rosa Parks Piece Prize in 1994 in Swedan. She also received the highest award given by the U. S Executive Branch in 1996 called the Presedintal Medal of Freedom. She also received the highest award from the legislative branch in 1999 called the Conggressional Gold Medal. Sha also got the Windsor-Detroit International freedom award that was pesented to her at the Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival. She died in Detroit, Michigan at age 92.

In conclusion, I would like to say that Rosa Parks stood up for a lot of coloreds . Her and all the civil rights activist led us to vitory and achieved their goal. Those 382 days of that bus boycott proved that we are strong and can do and be anything that we want to be. I would recommend this book to anybody who enjoys learning about black history. I also would like to say that this book makes you apprciate everything you have. It also has makes you feel that your in the obsticles that happened to african americans. I think that people would enjoy this book a lot .

I knew who Rosa Parks is. Who doesn't? But I had no idea just what all went on in the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. I literally had no idea. I have been reading bits and pieces of the Civil Rights Movement and the more I read, the more I am appalled that we, as a country, even had to go through something like this. The more I read, the more flabberghasted I am at what Americans in our own country had to endure simply because of the color of their skin. I've never quite understood the hatred and the anger that went on for years and after reading this book, I must say that I have the upmost admiration for Rosa Parks, a gentle woman who was not only bone-tired that fateful day, but was also tremendously involved with ending segration in her own hometown. Then after that fateful day, she was thrust upon a national stage where her name was linked right along with Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcom X and other famous leaders of the Civil Rights Leaders.

And what a woman! What a story! I had no idea of what all went on and this book did a great compilation of facts of not only Parks' own history, but of the times and people that went on during those early years. I must say that times were fraught with tension and fear, but Rosa never let it stop her from living her life as she saw fit to live. After reading this biography, she is definitely now one of my favorite heroes of all time. This woman has the courage that not even a lot of men had. She is inspirational even now because she stood her ground because of her moral convictions that it was time to stop all the injustice and craziness that was going on simply because of one's skin color.

I picked this book up two nights ago and to my surprise, as I thought it was a dry biography at first, I could not wait to read more of this book until I finished it tonight. It's kind of strange to say that a biography is a page-turner because I normally don't find biographies a page-turner ... but this one definitely is. My illusions of a shy gentle woman who was just sick and tired of being bullied were shattered by the wealth of information that this biographer had on Mrs. Parks. This woman did more to further the Civil Rights movement than people realized.

Rosa Parks is definitely a hero that all people should read on ... she is one tough act to follow.

6/12/10

This book was very informational and very detailed. I loved learning about each part of Rosa Parks life. I did not know much about her from the beginning and this book helped me a lot. It was a good length and had very good comments with it. I would highly recommend it for those who are wanting to learn more about her and the life she lead. She is an amazing women and Douglas Brinkley did a wonderful job of showing it!

On December 1, 1955, a 42 -year old African American seamstress, Rosa Parks, earned a place in history by refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Jim Crow Montgomery, Alabama. Parks's action sparked a 381 day boycott of the bus system. It lead as well to related litigation in a case called Browder v. Gale in which the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional segregated seating in buses. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. rose to prominence as a result of his leadership of the boycott, which marked the watershed event of the modern Civil Rights Movement.

Douglas Brinkley's short biography, "Rosa Parks" (2000) is part of the acclaimed Penguin Lives series, but it differs from its companion volumes in two ways. First, Brinkley's book appears to be the only volume of the series devoted to a person still alive at the time of the writing. The other highly diverse subjects of the series all were long dead at the time their Penguin biography appeared.

Second, virtually all the subjects of the Penguin series had been the subjects of much longer and detailed earlier biographies. The Penguin series and similar series were written to provide short overviews of important lives for busy people. But when it was written, Brinkleys' book was the only full-length biographical study of Rosa Parks, and it remains so today. Parks's autobiography, "My Story", was written for young people. Thus, Brinkley's book remains, at present, the standard biography of Parks.

Brinkley's book is valuable for the light it casts on Rosa Parks's life and character, her relationships with other figures from the Civil Rights Movement, and life in the segregated South. Most readers are likely unfamiliar with the story of Parks's life beyond her courageous action on December 1, 1955. Brinkley sets the stage for this action in terms of character and circumstance and its follow-up in Parks's subsequent long life. Parks's father abandoned his poor rural Alabama family when Rosa McCauley was a child. As an adolescent McCauley was compelled to leave high school to care for her ailing mother. Rosa McCauley married Raymond Parks in 1932 and completed high school with the encouragement of her husband. She became politically active and succeeded in registering to vote in 1943, a rare accomplishment for African Americans in the South. Parks was highly networked to the leaders of the Civil Rights movement in Birmingham, both white and black people, and served as the secretary of the local NAACP. Although the Civil Rights community was looking to develop a test case to end bus segregation, Parks's actions on December 1, 1955, were not planned to create the test case but rather were spontaneous and the result of individual determination.

In 1957, following the boycott, Parks and her husband moved to Detroit when they lost their jobs and were the subject of many threats in Birmingham. Parks lived her remaining 45 years in Detroit. She was a seamstress and an activist in her church, as she had been in Birmingham. From 1968 - 1988, Parks worked in the Detroit office of African American Congressman John Conyers. During her years in Detroit, Parks wrote her autobiography and a short inspirational book, "Quiet Strength". Among many other things, Parks became an admirer of Malcolm X (she was substantially more radical than was Dr. King), founded a series of "Pathways to Freedom bus tours", read extensively, and developed an interest in Buddhist meditation to compliment her Christian practice and belief. Parks received many honors and awards, primarily late in her life.

Brinkley's book does not cover the last years of Parks's life. Upon her death in 2005, Parks became the first woman and the first American non-government official to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda. Congress passed a resolution honoring Parks as the "Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement."

Parks deserves to be remembered for her courage, her unassuming quiet character, and her accomplishments. She is among the rare group of people that are properly considered as both an individual and as a symbol for something larger than herself. Early in his book, Brinkley observes that Park's "character represented one of the isolated high blips on the graph of human nature, offsetting a dozen or so sociopaths." (Brinkley at 4, quoting Taylor Branch, "Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954 - 1963) Brinkley's book will help keep Parks alive for readers.

Robin Friedman