Rosa Parks: A Life (Paperback)

~ Douglas Brinkley (Author) "OF ALL THE CIVIL RIGHTS SITES worthy of pilgrimage in Alabama, and there are many, none transfixes the historical imagination quite like that marked only..." (more)
Key Phrases: bus boycott, Rosa Parks, African Americans, Jim Crow (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Most Americans know her only as the 42-year-old seamstress who refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus. Her quiet act of defiance is often considered the beginning of the modern civil rights movement, but historian Douglas Brinkley reminds us that it was neither the beginning nor the end of Rosa Parks's quest for justice. On that fateful day in 1955 she was already a veteran civil rights activist, married to a charter member of the NAACP's Montgomery chapter, and a devout member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the many black churches whose congregants organized and fought to desegregate the South. Brinkley gives a thorough account of Parks's political life in the South and in Detroit (where she moved in 1957 to escape death threats), capturing her majestic personal dignity. Yet he also places her activism within a vivid historical context, anchored by extensive interviews with her peers and Parks herself as well as scholarly research. His subject is now a frail octogenarian, but Brinkley conveys the power of her legacy in a moving final scene when Nelson Mandela, just four months out of a South African jail in 1990, embraces Parks as a comrade and a beloved mentor. --Wendy Smith --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

In the second volume to date of the popular Penguin Lives series to be devoted to a woman (remarkably, only four of the projected 26 subjects will be female), historian Brinkley shreds several key myths surrounding Rosa Parks, the African-American woman who became "the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement" at the age of 42, when she boldly defied Jim Crow laws by refusing to give up her seat to a white rider on a segregated bus in 1955. The act catalyzed the historic 381-day Montgomery bus boycott and stirred the nation's conscience. Yet Parks has a more complex personality than is suggested by her shy, soft-spoken public persona, Brinkley reveals. Despite a humble, fatherless childhood in rural Alabama, she quickly distinguished herself as a tireless worker with the local NAACP, devoting her energies to area youth groups, recording the problems of victims of hate crimes and participating in the organization's major state conferences. Brinkley (The Unfinished Presidency, etc.) pinpoints the origins of Parks's strength and strong social commitment as he details the legalized segregation that tainted every aspect of Southern life. His short, compelling scenes rivet the reader, although some merely expand on previously disclosed events, such as the wave of jealousy and backbiting among Parks's peers, her resurgence in Detroit politics as an aide to Representative John Conyers and the savage beating and robbery that almost took her life in 1994. Like several books in this series, Brinkley's tribute to Parks succeeds not because of an abundance of fresh revelations but because of its wealth of insight and rich portraiture. Agent, Andrew Wylie; 4-city author tour. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books (October 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143036009
• ISBN-13: 978-0143036005
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #232,357 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Essential American Biography, June 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Rosa Parks (Penguin Lives) (Hardcover)

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.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars small volume packs a punch, October 4, 2000

By	Katherine F. Peake (Fredericksburg, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Rosa Parks (Penguin Lives) (Hardcover)

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.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why do you keep pushing us around?, December 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Rosa Parks (Penguin Lives) (Hardcover)

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.