Black Women’s Outrage 60 Years After Rosa Parks

As a fierce advocate for social justice, Rosa Parks labored on behalf of black women raped by white men long before she stood up to white supremacy by defiantly sitting down on a segregated bus 60 years ago. A righteous trifecta of courage, conviction and outrage fueled her activism just as it motivated black female activists before her and just as it continues to prompt so many brave, outspoken black women today. Yet Parks' anger at racism is seldom acknowledged when we look back on her civil rights legacy. Until recently, the myth that she was simply too tired to give up her seat had all but eclipsed her militancy and decades-long history of social justice organizing. For Parks, the fires had burned since before the 1940s when she fought to get justice for black women such as Getrude Perkins, who was raped by two white policemen in 1949. Parks' efforts and those of the Women's Political Council were not entirely in vain because the officers did go before an all-white grand jury, but in the end the charges were dismissed. It was an all too familiar outcome.