Remembering Rosa Parks

Lisa Respers France
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
1 minute read
Updated 1:25 PM EST, Tue December 1, 2015
Rosa Parks <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/12/01/rosa.parks.anniversary/index.html">became one of the major symbols of the civil rights movement</a> after she was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger in 1955. For 381 days, African-Americans boycotted public transportation to protest Parks' arrest and, in turn, segregation laws. The boycott led to a Supreme Court ruling desegregating public transportation in Montgomery. In this photo, Parks rides the bus a day after the Supreme Court ruling in 1956.
Rosa Parks became one of the major symbols of the civil rights movement after she was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger in 1955. For 381 days, African-Americans boycotted public transportation to protest Parks' arrest and, in turn, segregation laws. The boycott led to a Supreme Court ruling desegregating public transportation in Montgomery. In this photo, Parks rides the bus a day after the Supreme Court ruling in 1956.
Underwood Archives/Getty Images
Parks' booking photo. Her activism and arrest served as a rallying point in the civil rights movement.
Parks' booking photo. Her activism and arrest served as a rallying point in the civil rights movement.
Universal History Archive/Getty Images
Parks works as a seamstress in February 1956, shortly after the beginning of the Montgomery bus boycott. She was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913.
Parks works as a seamstress in February 1956, shortly after the beginning of the Montgomery bus boycott. She was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913.
Don Cravens/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Parks rides on a newly integrated bus in 1956. It wasn't until the 1964 Civil Rights Act that all public accommodations nationwide were desegregated.
Parks rides on a newly integrated bus in 1956. It wasn't until the 1964 Civil Rights Act that all public accommodations nationwide were desegregated.
Don Cravens//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Parks, far right, joins a march through Memphis, Tennessee, on April 8, 1968 -- four days after the death of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. King organized the Montgomery bus boycott. His widow, Coretta Scott King, is seen at center next to the Rev. Ralph Abernathy.
Parks, far right, joins a march through Memphis, Tennessee, on April 8, 1968 -- four days after the death of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. King organized the Montgomery bus boycott. His widow, Coretta Scott King, is seen at center next to the Rev. Ralph Abernathy.
Sam Melhorn/Commercial Appeal/Landov
The Rev. Jesse Jackson shows solidarity with Parks at the Democratic National Convention in 1988. Jackson had been a candidate in the Democratic primaries that year.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson shows solidarity with Parks at the Democratic National Convention in 1988. Jackson had been a candidate in the Democratic primaries that year.
Robert Abbott Sengstacke/Getty Images
Hillary Clinton greets Parks at the White House in 1990.
Hillary Clinton greets Parks at the White House in 1990.
Monica Morgan/WireImage/Getty Images
Actor Morgan Freeman joins Parks at a film premiere party for "Amistad" in 1997.
Actor Morgan Freeman joins Parks at a film premiere party for "Amistad" in 1997.
Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Parks attends a 2001 ceremony at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. The ceremony commemorated the 46th anniversary of her arrest.
Parks attends a 2001 ceremony at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. The ceremony commemorated the 46th anniversary of her arrest.
JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP/Getty Images
Free copies of The Montgomery Advertiser get handed out before a memorial service for Parks on October 28, 2005. She had died four days earlier at the age of 92.
Free copies of The Montgomery Advertiser get handed out before a memorial service for Parks on October 28, 2005. She had died four days earlier at the age of 92.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Parks' casket lies in honor at the U.S. Capitol in October 2005. She was the first woman and the second African-American <a href="http://history.house.gov/Institution/Lie-In-State/Lie-In-State/" target="_blank" target="_blank">to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda.</a>
Parks' casket lies in honor at the U.S. Capitol in October 2005. She was the first woman and the second African-American to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda.
Evan Vucci/Pool/Getty Images/file
The legacy of Rosa Parks
CNN  — 

Today marks the 60th anniversary of Rosa Parks taking a stand.

The 42-year-old seamstress and secretary of her local NAACP chapter defied Jim Crow laws that called for the separation of the races by refusing to move to the back of a bus to allow a white man to have her seat.

That defiant act in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955 was a pivotal point in the civil rights movement and transformed Parks into a symbol of the struggle. Social media marked the day and remembered her, with some taking note of the current plight of African-Americans.

Parks died in 2005 at the age of 92. In a 1995 interview, she said she wasn’t angry about being asked to leave her seat, just resolute.

“I don’t remember feeling that anger, but I did feel determined to take this as an opportunity to let it be known that I did not want to be treated in that manner and that people have endured it far too long,” she said.

50 years later: Huge crowd walks in ‘Bloody Sunday’ march in Selma