On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks became a symbol in America’s Civil Rights movement by sitting down. It was when she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama that helped end segregation laws in the south.

Many of us have known this story from a young age, and we subconsciously remember it and hold the morals and values it taught.

A bus filled up while Rosa Parks was sitting towards the front of the bus. The driver demanded that she give up her seat to a white passenger, but she refused. This surprised people, but empowered many more. 

For refusing to give up a seat, she was arrested and later convicted of disorderly conduct. Following this, a 381-day boycott of the bus system was led by Martin Luther King Jr. 

This case went to the supreme court, and it resulted in a ruling that desegregated public transportation in Montgomery. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act would desegregate public accommodations nationwide.

Refusing to give up a seat seems like a very minor thing to us, however it had one of the biggest impacts toward freedom and unity in the United States.