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About Rosa Parks with Susan Reyburn
Susan Reyburn, Library of Congress curator and contributor to the Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words exhibit, is interviewed by Mike Wood in this week’s episode of WorkHuman Radio. They discuss the contributions Rosa Parks made to the dismantling of segregation laws, including how her stance impacted workplace rights.
Living on a Tightrope
Susan shares what she discovered about Rosa Parks while putting the exhibit together. Rosa Parks, in her letters, describes living in a segregated society as constantly being on a tightrope: having to do mental and physical gymnastics to work around difficult situations, and never knowing if you might fall.
Love in Law
Rosa Parks first started using organized methods for civil rights during the Scottsboro Trials. She married Raymond Parks in 1932, with whom she shared similar opinions about racial politics. Raymond was a charter member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) branch, in Montgomery, Alabama. They worked with others to overturn the accused’s convictions and held secret meetings at their house.
Before Rosa, There was Claudette
Interestingly, Rosa was not the only one in history who resisted being told to move. What made her experience different was that its timing lined up perfectly with a boycott that Jo Ann Robinson had been planning for years. The fallout of the Bus Boycott inspired by Rosa Parks, in conjunction with the lawsuit filed by another woman, Claudette Colvin, who was forced to give up her seat, were the driving factors behind the abolition of the Jim Crow laws in Montgomery.
Workplace Rights
According to Susan, Rosa wasn’t treated well after the Bus Boycott. She was soon without a job and no one would hire her. Eventually, she began working for congressman John Conyers, and was credited with ensuring his victory after she campaigned for him. He hired her as his receptionist and as part of his social service committee, which enabled her to intervene in many workplace complaints.
Mother of the Movement
Since the early 60’s, the black community has regarded Rosa as the mother of the modern day civil rights movement. “No one is asking for special rights,” Susan says, “they’re only asking for equal rights.”
Resources
WorkHuman Live 2020
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Susan Reyburn, Library of Congress curator and contributor to the Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words exhibit, is interviewed by Mike Wood in this week’s episode of WorkHuman Radio. They discuss the contributions Rosa Parks made to the dismantling of segregation laws, including how her stance impacted workplace rights.
Living on a Tightrope
Susan shares what she discovered about Rosa Parks while putting the exhibit together. Rosa Parks, in her letters, describes living in a segregated society as constantly being on a tightrope: having to do mental and physical gymnastics to work around difficult situations, and never knowing if you might fall.
Love in Law
Rosa Parks first started using organized methods for civil rights during the Scottsboro Trials. She married Raymond Parks in 1932, with whom she shared similar opinions about racial politics. Raymond was a charter member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) branch, in Montgomery, Alabama. They worked with others to overturn the accused’s convictions and held secret meetings at their house.
Before Rosa, There was Claudette
Interestingly, Rosa was not the only one in history who resisted being told to move. What made her experience different was that its timing lined up perfectly with a boycott that Jo Ann Robinson had been planning for years. The fallout of the Bus Boycott inspired by Rosa Parks, in conjunction with the lawsuit filed by another woman, Claudette Colvin, who was forced to give up her seat, were the driving factors behind the abolition of the Jim Crow laws in Montgomery.
Workplace Rights
According to Susan, Rosa wasn’t treated well after the Bus Boycott. She was soon without a job and no one would hire her. Eventually, she began working for congressman John Conyers, and was credited with ensuring his victory after she campaigned for him. He hired her as his receptionist and as part of his social service committee, which enabled her to intervene in many workplace complaints.
Mother of the Movement
Since the early 60’s, the black community has regarded Rosa as the mother of the modern day civil rights movement. “No one is asking for special rights,” Susan says, “they’re only asking for equal rights.”
Resources
WorkHuman Live 2020