The author reveals new insights from Rosa Parks’s papers, showing her as a lifelong fighter for justice beyond the bus boycott, with a broad political life and enduring personal sacrifices.
Jeanne Theoharis, the book's author, discusses how recently acquired Rosa Parks papers illuminate the depth of Parks's activism over her lifetime, challenging the narrow focus on the bus boycott. She shares how Parks’s political life extended into decades of continued struggle for civil rights, including her work in Detroit and the toll her activism took on her family. The collection reveals Parks’s private thoughts and speeches, portraying her as a dedicated, complex figure whose commitment to justice persisted until her death.
Quick quotes
These newly-acquired papers offer a rare look into the ideas and activities of a woman who changed the nation.
It demonstrates how broad her political life was after leaving Montgomery for Detroit.
On a drugstore bag found in her collection, an elderly Rosa Parks doodled over and over, 'The Struggle Continues.'