Remember Rosa Parks? Three things everyone needs to know about this fiery feminist

Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give her seat to a white man on a bus. Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Trina

Rosa Parks was an American civil rights activist and a feminist, who has been bestowed with the title of 'Mother of the Freedom Movement'.

At a time when America was segregated on the basis of race, she did something that was considered to be a violation of the law. Parks refused to give her seat to a white man in a bus.

The American society was very different in the 50s. Rules were made and implemented based on the colour of the skin. While the white people sat in the front seats of a bus, others were ordered to sit at the back. However, according to the law, if a white person boarded the bus and no seats were available, a person of colour would have to give up their seat.

On December 1, 1955, Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on the charges of violating the Segregation Law.

But, the activist didn't back down. Four days later, she started a new wave of rebellion by boycotting the bus company. The boycott led to the creation of the Montgomery Improvement Association, which was headed by Martin Luther Jr.

On her 104th birth anniversary, here are three very interesting facts that you probably didn't know about this fiery feminist:

She Was A Civil Rights Activist Even Before Her Arrest
Parks joined the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1943. At the time of her arrest, she was a secretary of the local NAACP chapter. Her political activism continued through the boycott and the rest of her life. In 1944, in her capacity as the secretary, she investigated the acts of rampant sexual violence committed against Black women.

She Was Not The first African-American woman to refuse to yield her seat
Although she has been hailed as one of the crusaders against the Segregation Law, she wasn't the first woman to refuse a seat to a white man. 15-year-old Claudette Colvin refused to budge from her seat nine months before Parks did. Colvin said that it was her constitutional right to sit on the bus and was arrested after that.

Parks Has A Human Rights Movement in Cuba Named After Her
The Rosa Parks Feminist Movement for Civil Rights in Cuba has been fighting to put end to the torture and repression of Cuban political prisoners and activists. The movement also fights for the welfare of Cubans who do not have a place to live.

She may not be the first person to take action against the inhuman way people were segregated on the basis of colour, but her one action did spark a bus boycott. She lived as proof that any citizen can become the deciding factor in a revolution.
Here's to hoping that in a world that still refuses to respect women, we continue the good fight that she started against sexual assault and domestic violence.