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-Wait now. She's coming. She's coming.
-Oh, the newspapers, Rosie...
-Rosa, they're waiting.
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX
-The editor of "Look" magazine is here
with his photographer.
-Everybody's with you.
-Rosie, you can do this.
-It's time. -Rosie,
you should just do it.
-Rosie, you don't have to do this...
if you don't want to.
-I know.
-We're behind you on this, Rosa.
- We believe in you. Go out there.
- You can do this.
-Clear the way, folks. Clear the way.
-Rosa, what were you thinking
when you refused to give up your seat?
-Was it a setup?
-Please, back up. Please, back up.
-Rosa, why did you do it?
-Take us around the park.
-Miss Parks, give us a smile.
-Yeah, okay.
-All right.
-We'll set up for another one.
-Mrs. Parks? All right.
Mrs. Parks?
Rosa?
Rosa? Rosa?
-Rosie?
Rosie? Oh, look at the girls here.
I wish I was going here.
-Rosie? Rosie.
Rosie, come on now, baby.
Careful stepping off the trolley.
-...to see the elephants, elephants, elephants
jump over the fence, fence, fence...
-Rosie,
you be sure and behave yourself now
and pay attention.
-Yes, ma'am. -Miss White's school costs money.
-Yes, ma'am.
-Speak only when you're spoken to.
Teacher asks a question,
you know the answer, open your mouth.
Don't be shy.
Let her know what a smart little girl
her new student is, right, baby?
-Yes, ma'am. -Go on, they're expecting you.
-It'll be so fun.
-...cents, cents, cents, to see the elephants, elephants...
-Good morning, Miss White.
-Good morning, girls.
We have a new pupil joining us today,
Rosa McCauley.
-You can sit right back there.
-Thank you, Miss White.
-I need to see everyone's eyes
up front, please.
Thank you.
-You're from the country, aren't you?
-Pine Level.
-I've heard of that.
I don't know where it is, but I heard of it.
I'm Rebecca Daniels. You can call me Johnnie.
So, what do you think about Miss White's School so far?
-It's a lot different from what I'm used to.
-Bet this is the first time you was ever in a schoolroom
with desk to write on and glass in the windows?
And you never seen a chalkboard before
or had a white teacher?
-How do you know all of this?
-Only country girls eat tomato sandwiches.
-Please pass your tests forward.
Rowena, did you not do well on your test?
-I never do well, Miss Barton. I'm too stupid.
-Rowena, you are not stupid.
-I don't know why we're bothering
with all this reading and arithmetic
when all we gonna end up doing for jobs is
washing somebody's clothes and wiping
their baby's snotty noses.
-Does anybody want to answer Rowena's question?
-Rosa, why do we bother?
-We bother so we can be equal to everybody else.
-We're not equal to everybody else.
We're not equal to white folks.
-I was raised to believe if I put my mind to it,
I can do whatever I want in this world.
I was taught no one's better than me,
no man, no woman, black or white.
No one.
-If white folks say-- -No one.
A person can take everything from you, even your life,
but they can't take your dignity.
Can't nobody take that from you, but you.
That's what my grandpappy told me,
and I believe him.
-If you learn nothing else at Mrs. White's School,
may the Blessed Lord help you remember
what Rosa just taught you.
-Amen, girl. Forget Tuskegee
and you can keep Birmingham, too.
-But you ain't been nowhere else, Rosie.
-That's all right.
Because I love living in Montgomery.
-Rosa? Rosa?
-Oh, yes, ma'am?
-How is your mother?
-She's doing fair.
-I'm coming over to see her real soon, hear.
-Yes, ma'am.
-Bye-bye.
-Bye.
-"We wear the mask
"that grins and lies.
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes."
-Mm-hmm.
-"This debt we pay to human guile,
with torn and bleeding hearts we smile."
-Parks,
don't let me have to take that straight razor
out your hands.
-What?
-Those are the words of Paul Laurence Dunbar.
-Who?
-A great Negro poet.
-Must be one of them...
-Oh no!
-We're working against time
to get the Scottsboro boys freed.
-Oh, at least they're off death row.
-The overseas newspapers
are starting to make a ruckus about it.
-Isn't the NAACP trying--
-The NAACP is just a bunch of scared old men
who blow hot and cold.
It's gonna take money to help those boys.
A lot of it,
so I'm working with a group here in Montgomery
trying to raise it.
-That's dangerous business, Parks.
-Yeah, maybe. -Oh, what he's doing now?
-Parks' trying to rob the cradle.
Those are high school girls.
-What about the one in the purple sweater?
I never seen her before.
-Maybe she's new.
-From where I stand, brother,
she looks better than new.
-Uh-huh.
-Oh, hello, hello.
-Hello, there, ladies. Yeah.
-Hello, Parks.
-No need to stand out in the rain.
-All right.
-It'd be a crying shame to get that pretty sweater all wet.
-It's just water.
It'll dry.
-Under that bright and sunny smile,
I'm sure it will.
There's some newspapers.
Take home what you like.
Negro newspapers may be hard to come by,
but not in this shop.
We got the "Crises"-- -Isn't he cute?
-Who? -Parks, girl.
Raymond Parks.
-"The Chicago Defender."
-He too light skinned for my taste.
-Well, he just right for mine.
-They say he's working with the Scottsboro boys
legal defense fund.
-Really? -Life...
is about facing danger, my friends,
about taking risks.
We have to stand up for what's right
even if we have to put our lives
on the line. -Mm-hmm.
-The way I see it, every Negro in this town
should be behind supporting those Scottsboro boys.
They need money for their legal defense fund.
-Mm-hmm.
-And I have the address right here
where you can make your contribution.
-Oh, that's the shop owner.
Let's go.
-I'm just gonna go home and do my schoolwork.
-Maybe we should leave.
We don't have any business being in here.
We already...
-"We wear the mask
"that hides our cheeks
"and shades our eyes.
"Beneath our feet and long the mile,
but let the world dream otherwise."
-Mm-hmm.
-"We wear the mask."
Paul Laurence Dunbar.
-I'd better be getting home.
I'll see y'all Monday.
-Wait, Rosie.
-Hey.
-I'm Raymond Parks.
Everybody calls me Parks.
I wish you would, too.
-I-I-I've got to go.
-What's your name?
-You're getting wet.
-Then you'd better hurry up
and tell me your name
before I drown.
-I-I really do have to go home.
-Said, I fell in love with a gal,
I thought was kind.
She made me lose my money...
and almost lose my mind.
-Man.
- Where did he go? - Parks,
you're gonna make me late for work.
-What's her name?
-Fanny? What's her name, girl?
-I shouldn't tell you.
-Well, sure you should
or you wouldn't be Sweet Fanny.
-Rosa.
Our cousin's name is Rosa Louise McCauley.
-Thank you, Fanny.
Tell your cousin I'll be seeing her.
-I'm paying for a shave here, fancy-man.
-What you're paying for is my first date
with Rosa Louise McCauley.
-Scottsboro?
It's right up there near Tennessee.
-Mm-hmm. Right up near the border.
-Colored folks are plenty mad over this.
-Of course they're mad, brother.
Everybody knows them boys didn't rape
those white girls in that train.
-There's even talk about the NAACP
coming down from New York.
-Oh, they're just gonna make it worse
for everybody.
-They've been sentenced to die, Mama.
How much worse can it get?
-Who can that be?
-Hmm?
-Who can that be?
-Can't be nobody we know, not with a car.
-That, that's not just a car.
That's, that's a Studebaker, a red Studebaker
with a colored man getting out.
-Hey, man. -How you doing?
-All right.
-Wow.
A real Studebaker.
Oh my! -What?
-Oh my, it's him.
-Him, who? -Um, uh,
th-th-th-the barber, Mama.
Uh... Parks. -What?
-Raymond Parks, I think that's what he said his name was.
-How'd you get to meet a barber?
-I, I didn't meet him. He met me.
-Motion picture cameras, something like that.
Go on, I won it in a poker game.
-But I can't see.
-Mama, go out there and tell him
I'm not at home.
-Hey, Sylvester. How you doing? -Hey, man. How you doing?
-Listen, I'm looking for Rosa. Is she home?
-Ooh. Rosa?
She's not, man. I'll tell her you came by, though.
-Yeah, all right. Give her these for me, all right?
-I'll do that. I still wanna learn how to drive that.
-Put in a good word for me.
-I'll do that. I'll do that.
-Rosa, that man here again.
Hey, man. How you doing?
-I'm all right. Is your sister...
-She can't come to the door right now, man. -Yeah.
-I'll tell her you came by, though.
-Yeah, I know you will.
-Get used to it. -Yeah.
-He's here again?
-Rosie...
I am just fresh out of patience with you now.
I don't know why he keeps coming back.
-Come on in, Mr. Parks.
-What'd he say, Mama?
-He said...
it's a good thing gladiolus grow year round.
Come on, I want to show you something.
-Oh, if I'd have known about this,
I'd have brought my bathing suit.
-Oh. It's a little muddy for swimming,
but it's great for fishing.
-Oh.
My grandpapa taught me how to fish.
I sure do miss him,
even after all these years.
He was born not too far from here.
He spent close to half his life as a slave.
-He ever talk about it?
-Not to me.
-Uh-huh.
I used to bait my grandpapa's hook
when his eyesight got too bad.
Oh, we'd sit for hours
and talk about anything and everything.
Sometimes, we'd say nothing at all.
Mama, she used to tease.
She'd say, "I learned to fish before I could even walk."
-I don't know about that,
but, oh, I sure do love it.
Did you fish much?
-No.
-Y-y-your daddy never taught you how?
-My daddy never taught me much of anything...
except maybe how many different ways I could hate him.
-Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...
-No, that's all right.
Pops was a carpenter.
He was also white or close enough to pass for it
most of the time.
That was his problem,
was those times he couldn't pass that...
ate away at him.
Took it out on my mother...
and me.
When he finally took off, we had ourselves...
a little party.
When we heard he died falling off a roof...
I had myself an even bigger party.
A real big party.
-Oh. -It's the police.
-This is all I need.
Damn.
Don't worry, it'll be all right.
-Mm, mm, mm.
Woo!
Whose car is this?
-Mine.
-You wouldn't be lying to me now, would you, boy?
-I-I can vouch that this car is his.
-Is that right?
-I got the ownership papers right here.
-You're moving too fast, boy.
-Calling all cars. Calling all cars.
-Get your ass off the road.
-All cars in the area. Calling all cars.
-Damned negro's car's better than mine.
-You did the right thing, Parks.
-I didn't do anything.
-Sometimes, that's the right thing.
-Sometimes, it ain't.
-I know that too.
-Klan most likely lynched these boys.
They aren't gonna stand for any local colored group
working on that Scottsboro case.
You ready?
-Barber shop. -Mr. Jeeter?
-Yeah.
-This is Rosa McCauley.
-Well, hello, Rosa.
-I'm looking for Parks.
-Parks? -Is he there?
-Ain't seen Parks in--
not since he went on down there to Scottsboro.
Now, I told him not to go on down there by himself
with all them people with him.
You know what he's like.
He just gets to talkin' and go. -Thank you.
-Rosa--
-Next week, I'll teach you how to throw a curveball.
Come on, have a drink
-Colored?
-Brother, do you think the water's sweeter?
-Only one way to find out.
-They catch you,you gonna get us all in trouble.
-Not if I switch the signs first.
-Oh, don't you put your lips on that water.
-I think it tastes a little worse,
like rusty pipes.
-Get on back now.
-Get on back now. Get.
-I bet they just can't tell the difference themselves.
-Oh.
-Aren't we gonna change the signs back?
Rosa? Rosa?
-Strength of the soul...
-Help us, our Father, to realize
how far we ourselves are responsible...
-Mama. -...sickness...
-Mama.
-Help us to know--
How did you--
I thought that you were dead.
-I know.
I'm so sorry.
-How did you get-- your car's not outside,
where's your-- oh.
-I'm all right. I'm all right.
-What happened to your face?
-I sold the car.
-Why?
-Long as I have you, I don't need anything else.
-May God bless you and keep you.
I now pronounce you husband and wife.
Mr. Parks, you may now salute Mrs. Parks.
-Rosie, kiss him.
-My turn to kiss the bride.
-Thank you. -Throw that, girl.
-That's right.
-Throw that thing.
-You can kiss now. You can kiss now.
-Here it comes.
-Okay.
-All right, ma'am.
-Excuse me.
-Hey.
What do you think you're doing?
-You gonna get it now.
She's going to get so much shit again.
-I said what do you think you're doing?
-I'm going to Cleveland Avenue.
-Well, if you're going on this bus, you gonna get off
and come back on in the back.
-Get off for what?
I'm already on. Besides, it's raining.
-I don't care if the sky is falling.
If you are gonna ride with my bus,
you're gonna get off
and come back on round the back.
Do you hear me?
-Do not...
put your hands on me.
-All right. Get. Let's go.
-Come on. Get up.
-Come on!
-Just get up.
-Oh!
I'm not sitting next to her.
-Get off the bus.
Thank you.
-Maybe you can get out of it.
-It's a conscription letter, Mama.
You don't get out of being drafted.
-Well, there must be somebody to write to.
-And tell him what?
"I think there's been a terrible mistake,
"Mr. Roosevelt,
"but my mama don't think I should be off
fighting in nobody's war."
-Well, what's wrong with that?
It's the truth.
-Oh, Raymond.
-Instead of trying to make
the world safe for democracy,
this damn country ought to be trying
to make Alabama safe for the Negro.
-Well, now, that's true. -Well, there's Rosa.
My God.
-What happened?
-Rosa?
-I... walked home.
-Walked? That's over five miles.
-Did you miss the bus, baby?
-No.
-What happened?
-I was put off.
-Thrown off the bus, why?
-What difference does it make?
-I'm gonna get some coffee.
Get out them wet clothes.
-My God, you're soaked.
-"...faith that some fair morning,
all we count good and beautiful will come true."
-Did he put his hands on you?
-No.
But he wanted to.
-And why did he put you off the bus?
-'Cause I did not want to pay my fare,
get off, and get back on in the back.
-All right.
Go on, lay back.
Go on, lay back, lay back, lay back.
That's right.
-You know, it's been like that ever since there was trolleys.
-Well, does that make it right?
-I didn't say it was right.
I said that's the way it's always been.
-The last time I checked,
the dime I pay for the token to ride those buses
is the same color as the dime the white folks use.
We are paying to be humiliated.
And it does not make sense.
-Since when did these peckerwoods ever make sense?
-I will tell you this,
I will never...
forget the driver's face.
-All right.
-Rosie,
Rosie, didn't you go to school with a girl named Johnnie?
She's here in the paper.
Rosie, Rosie, didn't you go to school
with a girl named, named Johnnie?
Ro--
-So when we gonna start this voter registration drive?
-After the Double V campaign.
-Can we help you?
-I-I'm sorry for interrupting.
I'm here to see someone.
-Rosie?
Oh, girl!
-Oh, Johnnie.
-It's so good to see you. -Oh.
-Now, what you doing here?
-Well, I saw your picture in the paper.
-We've got a meeting here. -I'm sorry.
-Oh, I'm sorry.
No, no, we'll talk later.
-No, come on. Uh-uh. -No, no, no. I--
Oh no-- -Stay here.
This is important.
This is my best friend, everybody.
Now, Arvie, would you let her have this chair please?
Okay, Rosa, stay right here.
-Thank you so much. I'm sorry.
-Sit right there.
-Wait a minute. Hold on now.
Are you a member?
-A member?
-Of the NAACP.
That's us, the people you just interrupted.
-Oh, well... no.
-No, you sit right here.
-Well, you are hereby a member in good standing.
Dues are collected at the end of the month.
We're beginning a membership drive.
-And you'll be an even better... member
if you take good notes.
-I guess I can.
-The loud one, that's E.D. Nixon, the president.
He's a Pullman Porter on his regular job.
He's noisy, but harmless.
We've got a big campaign. -You ladies need a ride anywhere?
-No, no. We're gonna have lunch.
Take my friend to-- -Oh.
Oh, excuse me. Um, Mr. Nixon, I...
I, I do not mind being secretary,
but I hope that you do not think
that that is all that I can do.
-Well, what else can you do?
-Well, you tell me what you need,
and, uh, I will tell you if I can do it.
Same old Rosa.
-We got this group called the Youth Council.
School-age kids in need of, of an adult advisor
for things like counseling, uh, bible study,
teaching self-esteem.
-I'd love to-- -Now, hold on now.
They also need a little juice,
a little protest spirit,
something too many of them ain't getting at home.
-She can do it, Mr. Nixon.
You got the right one, she can do it.
-All right.
-Now, you have a nice day.
So, what have you been doing with yourself?
-I've been working as a seamstress across the street
at Montgomery Fair Department Store.
Alterations, dresses.
-Any children?
-No.
We've been hoping.
I guess the Lord has other ideas
on how he wants us to spend our time.
Would you like something to drink?
-Hey, wait now. Uh-uh.
Now, you come all the way down here to find me
and then get yourself put to work,
the least I can do is buy you a soda water.
Let me see here.
Oh, that's my voter registration card.
-I always wanted to vote for Mr. Roosevelt.
-Really?
-Eleanor, his wife, she made it possible
for Marian Anderson to sing on the steps
of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.
-Mm.
You registered?
-Not yet. -Lord, don't tell Mr. Nixon that
or he'll have you tuned up for a lecture.
"Colored folks who don't vote
deserve the treatment they get."
-Two soda waters?
You can call me Johnnie. And since you're new
and don't have any friends, I'll be your best friend.
Miss White, Miss Barton,
and all the teachers are from the North.
-They seem strict. -They are.
They're something called Quaker.
It's a religion that believes all people are the same
and should be treated right.
-That's a good religion.
-My mother thinks Miss White is a saint,
for putting up with what she does to keep the school open.
-Like what?
-Lots of people don't want her teaching colored girls.
Even burned the school twice to try to stop her.
And each time, Miss White and the other teachers
just build it back up and keep on teaching.
-Secretary? -Mm-hmm.
The meetings are just once a month.
-Secretaries do a lot more work than just go to meetings.
Well, I'm only volunteering,
so I'll do as much as I can or I want to.
-That's what scares me.
You'll do all you're asked to do and then some.
-Are you afraid that I won't be home as often?
-I'm afraid you can't run fast enough.
And then you won't be home at all.
You know, the police watch those meetings, Rosa.
I don't have to tell you what can happen.
-I won't be one of the leaders, Parks.
-Oh, you think a stick of dynamite cares
if you're just a secretary?
-I wanna do this.
-You don't need my permission.
-I did not ask for your permission,
but your approval would be nice.
-Oh, you want my approval to stick your neck out
with a bunch of cowards down at the NAACP. -Parks.
-No, I can't do that. -They're all we have.
-And Scottsboro was ten years ago.
-That's right, ten years and those boys are still in prison.
Ten years with the all-mighty
National Association of Colored People wringing its hands
like a bunch of old ladies
shouting for justice with a whisper.
You know, Jews and Communists did more to help them boys.
-Now, they did.
Now, you gonna do what you wanna do.
Rosie. -Mm-hmm.
Ooh! Apple pie too?
-Mm-hmm. -The way to my heart.
-The heart I already have.
It's the mind I'm working on.
-Mm-hmm.
-Parks...
I really need you to understand
that for the first time in my life,
I feel like I can help.
Like, maybe I can do something important
for our people.
-I understand that passion, Rosa.
And I was there once, remember?
-I know. That's why I was hoping--
-Yeah, but I'm afraid of that passion too.
Afraid for all the things that can happen.
-And what if I promise to be very, very careful?
-But you can't.
Don't you see?
You can't be careful
and be effective.
Black people have been trying.
For 300 years.
-"Though he will not rise and give him
"because he is his friend,
"yet because of his persistence,
"he will rise
and give him as many as he needs."
All right.
Who can tell me what persistence means?
Yes?
Hello.
I came here to register.
-You live in Montgomery County?
-Yes.
-How many states are there?
-Forty-eight.
-How many Senators from each state?
-Two from each state,
96 in the whole country.
-Answer the questions completely and legibly,
front and back.
Next.
Morning, Mr. Lester.
You finally made it in to register.
-Yeah, the boys been on me to get it done,
so I figured I might as well do it.
-How's Emma and the kids?
-They're good.
-You tell her
that Janet from down at the county says hi.
-Mm-hmm.
-That'll be a dollar-fifty.
-That wasn't nearly as hard as I figured.
-You tell Hank hello for me.
-Oh, I will. -I'll see you in church Sunday.
-Okay. Bye now.
-Good day.
-You didn't pass.
-What?
-You failed the test.
It's a requirement to satisfactorily complete
the civic test to register to vote.
-I-I would like the test back please.
-I'm afraid that's against our policy.
-Well, how will I know what questions I got wrong?
-I will never, never forget that driver's face.
-She wouldn't even tell you
what questions you got wrong?
-No. Give me another one.
-The Judicial and Legislative Branches...
-Makes and enforces laws.
Next.
-The US Supreme Court--
Rosa, you know all of this mess,
probably better than most lawyers.
How many lawyers do you think they'd turn away
down at that courthouse?
-White or colored?
-That... is my point.
As a US citizen, I have a right to vote,
and no person who does not know,
or who cannot tell me what I got wrong,
can keep me from that right.
How many United States Representatives
are in Congress?
-Four hundred and thirty-five.
Next.
-There you are.
Just sign right there.
Thank you.
What's this?
-Oh, I'm sorry.
That one is my copy.
This is the third time I've taken this test.
-What is it?
-Oh, the questions from the test.
I wrote them down, along with my answers.
If you tell me that I failed again, I want a lawyer
to tell me what I'm doing wrong.
-We don't want any trouble.
Give it to her.
-That'll be twelve dollars,
a dollar-fifty for each year past the age of 21,
the first year you should have registered.
-My registration card please?
-You'll get it in the mail.
-Thank you.
-And of all the Jim Crowlaws, those segregating buses are the most complex and--
-The whims of individual drivers
make it even more confusing.
Some bus drivers are meaner than others,
and some are meaner than rattlesnakes.
-They're affronting and they speed off
leaving you with a face full of insults.
Women are fed up.
-We don't have much time. I mean, what else do we do?
Damnit. First, a Negro soldier gets shot on the bus, now this.
-No, we have to force this city
to treat Negro riders on its buses as human beings.
-I agree.
-Good evening, I'm Rosa Parks.
-Oh, I'm sorry,
Clifford, Virginia Durr. Rosa Parks.
-Pleasure. -It's nice to meet you.
-Very nice to meet you, Rosa. -And you.
-Jo Ann Robinson, Women's Political Council.
-We have to go. -Pleasure.
-Mr. Nixon, call me tomorrow if you change your mind.
-Very good. -Good night.
-Good night, everybody. -Good night.
What happened?
-Colored girl got arrested on the bus.
Claudette Colvin.
-For not giving up her seat to a white man.
-We need to find someone
who will swell up the people,
like a revival's going on.
-Claudette is 15, she's just a child.
-Claudette's not the one? -Uh-uh.
-Well, I'm going home. -Well, you can give me a ride.
-All right. -Good night.
-Oh, and Rosa.
-Yes?
-Don't stay too late
'cause I don't want your husband getting mad at me.
-Parks understands that I enjoy my work.
-But Lord knows a woman don't need to be
nowhere but home and in the kitchen.
-Then I cannot be here typing all your letters on this Underwood
or organizing your lecture calendar
or answering all your mail without pay.
-Well, I, I need a secretary.
And you're a good one.
-Thank you.
-Good night. -Good night.
-Uh, Jo Ann, you coming with me?
-Give me the bus cases.
-Oh.
It's always the buses.
-Hello? May I help you?
-I'm looking for Mr. Nixon.
-Oh, I'm afraid he's gone for the day.
Is there something I can do for you?
-It's my boy.
Elijah.
He needs help.
-All right. All right.
You just take your time.
-Didn't know what we was doing.
Been going on since last summer.
Ever since I started delivering things to Sarah's house.
Since we was kids, we played together.
-So, you were in her house?
-Yes'm.
A neighbor peeked in the bedroom window.
Sarah said I bust in and forced myself on her,
but I didn't do what they said, Miss Parks, ma'am.
-I believe you, Elijah.
I believe you.
-They say they're gonna give me electric chair.
-No.
Not if we can help it.
-But you can't help it.
Ain't nothing nobody can do to help me.
-You got to have faith, Elijah.
-I expect I done cried all my faith away, ma'am.
The police be in here all the time
talking about how they gonna watch me fry.
They say it just like that...
"You gonna fry, nigger."
-That young man did not rape that girl.
-Maybe not, but you going down to that jail didn't help him.
-Well, somebody had to do something.
-And what is it that you did, besides give him false hope.
-I could not even do that.
I never...
felt so helpless.
I never...
-These graveyards are filled with innocent black boys, Rosa.
There's also quite a few innocent black girls
and men and women.
-Well, I never sat across from any of the others
or saw the fear and the helplessness in their eyes.
I do not know them.
-And you don't know this one.
Rosa, baby, this boy was caught in bed
with a white girl.
His mama ought to give thanks that the police got to him
before the Klan did.
-So is it better to fry than to be lynched?
-You know what I'm saying.
-What if he were our son, Parks?
How thankful would we be then?
-If he was my son, what went on
between him and that girl
never would have happened.
-You don't know that, Parks. -Oh, but I do.
Because I'd have made damn sure that he knew
how the South worked.
-Remember, whatever happens,
you do not become angry or rude.
Just do what we came here to do.
-Thank you, Jill, and Merry Christmas.
-Merry Christmas.
-I'd like to check out a book please.
-Oh, the procedure is that you go to the colored branch
in your neighborhood.
Check out the book there.
-I went,
but they didn't have what I need.
They hardly ever have what I need.
-That may be, but you can't check books out here.
-Why not? They just checked out books.
You must put in a request at your own branch
to have the book sent to you.
-That takes too long.
By the time you send it,
I won't need it anymore.
-Well, I can't help that.
-Your procedure is unjust
and insulting to anyone who knows right from wrong.
-I'd like to check out a book please.
Thank you, Jesus.
Oh.
It's, it's tonight.
-I know.
-They gonna kill my boy, Mrs. Parks.
-The Lord... is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
-Rosa and Woman: He leads me beside still water.
-He restores my soul.
-What will my lady be wearing this Christmas?
-Montgomery Fair's winter collection.
-Everything that sparkles and shines.
-We usually shop in New York or Atlanta.
I come here because of you, Rosa.
You are the best in this town.
-Why, thank you, Mrs. Rymer,
I enjoy my work.
-Rosa, hey, can you come in early tomorrow morning?
Christmas has us swamped.
-Y-yes, Mr. Bradley. I can use the hours.
-Good. Be here at 8:00? -Yes, sir.
-Hey, there. Is this your shoe size
on this piece of paper?
-I wanna try on shoes too.
-My favorite color, they're green.
-I wanna try on shoes.
-We'll find you a handsome pair of shoes. -Mama.
-Oh, hush, baby, you know you can't try on shoes.
-Why not? -That's why we trace your foot at home.
-Can I help you?
-So what did you have for lunch today?
-She's getting new shoes today.
-Why is she making a copy of her feet?
-You ain't never had no new shoes before?
Colored folks can't try on things at the stores.
-All right. Let me see what I can do.
-Let me have those front seats.
Y'all better make it light on yourselves
and let me have those seats.
-Are you gonna move?
-No.
-If you don't give me that seat, I'm gonna have you arrested.
-You may do that.
-Stop. Come on.
-Montgomery City line.
-Dispatch. Driver James Blake.
Listen, I got a, I got a colored woman on my bus
in violation of the law.
-Did you warn her, Jim?
-Yes, sir, I warned her.
-Well, then you just do it.
You got to exercise your powers and put her off.
-All right. Yeah, I'm gonna need police backup.
-Just get up.
-What are you trying to do?
-Grandpappy, I think I hate white people.
-Only thing you need to remember
is that you're as good as anybody else,
white, black, or green with stripes.
Don't ever be afraid of what could happen to you
if you're fighting for what's right.
As long as you keep that with you,
then hate will be a word for other people.
-Let's just go.
Let's go.
-Well, she's sitting in the colored section.
-I needed that seat, and she wouldn't move.
I want her arrested.
-Why won't you stand up?
-Why do you want to push us around?
-Will you listen to that?
-The law's the law.
Lady, you're under arrest.
-I would like to make a telephone call please.
-Remove the glasses.
Look straight ahead.
-Rosa Parks, follow me.
-I need to use the telephone.
Oh, well ain't you the fancy one.
You just come from church?
-Hello.
Good evening.
-Hey, can we get some cigarettes?
You're listening to WCOB,
Montgomery's number one gospel station.
-Miss Leona. -Yes, you're Mr. Nixon.
-How are you doing this evening?
-Just in time for a fine batch
of Christmas cookies,
-just out the oven. -No, no, I couldn't.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
-Well, how about coffee? -No, no, really.
-What? -Rosa's been arrested.
-No. -It's gonna be all right.
Just calm down, just be calm. -What happened?
-Word's all over town.
Rosa's been arrested. She's in jail.
-Did they beat her?
-We don't know anything yet.
-Oh, Lord have mercy. -Just--
Parks.
-Montgomery Police, give me the desk sergeant.
Get her out.
-Oh.
-Yes, this is Ed Nixon,
president, Montgomery NAACP.
We understand you've got one of our members down--
-Son of a bitch.
-Hello?
Yes, Mr. Nixon.
Clifford.
It's Mr. Nixon.
The police have arrested Rosa Parks
and they won't give him any information.
-What happened?
When?
Okay, I'll try, then I'm on my way.
-This is Clifford Durr.
Attorney Clifford Durr, sergeant.
-We pray tonight with confidence, amen.
-Okay, ladies. Let's break it up in there.
Rosa Parks,
let's go. -Everything will be all right.
Parks. -Oh, Rosa.
It's gonna be all right.
-Thanks for everything.
-It'll be all right.
Don't worry now.
-We can't afford no big fine.
-Whatever it is, we'll just have to find a way to pay it.
Rosie's not going back to jail.
-When's the court date? -Monday.
And don't worry, there's no way in hell
we're gonna let Rosa go back to jail.
-No, she shouldn't have been in there in the first place.
-Parks.
-I'm sorry, Rosa,
but I'm not hiding how I feel.
You and that group of yours are just as responsible
for her being arrested.
-I think we should be going.
-If you need-- -Hello.
-Miss Leona, this is Johnnie.
Rosa's arrest has upset all the colored folks in Montgomery.
Now, you remember Jo Ann Robinson?
Well, she has a group of her students
printing leaflets right now.
They wanna boycott the buses.
-Yeah, Johnnie? -They're organizing a meeting.
-Uh-huh. -With the new minister.
-When? -Tomorrow morning at Dexter Avenue Church.
-All right.
There's a meeting scheduled
for tomorrow morning at Dexter Avenue Church.
-For what?
-It's about you and your stand on the bus.
Our ministers have the phones buzzing all over town.
They want you at the meeting.
And, well, if you can't make it,
they'll understand.
-Dexter Avenue Church.
The one with the new minister?
-That's the one.
-Oh my...
-I better be going.
Mr. Parks, if you think we put Rosa up to this,
you don't know your wife real well.
If anything...
she's the one leading us.
-Raymond...
-...I'm gonna fix you something to eat.
You must be starved.
You cannot really believe that they asked me to do this?
-My wife was in jail--
-I did not ask to be arrested, Parks.
All I wanted was what everybody else on that bus wanted,
to go home.
And I do not need Nixon,
the NAACP, or anybody else to tell me
that I have a right to my dignity
when I'm taking that ten-cent ride.
-Now, I wanna know is
what are we gonna do about this here arrest? -Mm-hmm.
-This is what we gonna do.
I say we stop riding their buses. -That's right.
-They don't treat us with respect,
they don't deserve our business.
- That's right. - Stop riding the buses?
Just like that?
-Just like that. For one whole day.
-It's the moment we've all been waiting for.
Rosa Parks here is a good citizen.
We have got to take a stand.
I say we stop riding the buses Monday,
the day of Rosa's trial.
-There's no time to think.
- Is that the only way?
- If Montgomery is like most cities in the South,
colored folk make up the majority of the riders.
-So I say we hit them crackers where it hurts.
-Where? -The cash box.
- Yes. - That's right.
- Boycott is illegal.
-Then we'll call it a protest. Is that all right with you?
-Y'all know there's bound to be some retaliation.
Now, let's just start off first by sending a letter
to the bus company. -Letters?
-We're talking about one day off the buses.
-And one day is all they need
to feel like they can put us back in our place.
-Our place is not looking up at them from our knees.
- Amen! -Hell, even a lapdog gets tired of being kicked.
Now, Mrs. Parks has given us her courage,
a golden opportunity. -Yes.
-Are we gonna be cowards and just let it go?
-No. -Now, you,
you don't talk to me like that.
I'm a grown man.
-Well, stand up like one, Reverend.
-Well, I'm standing up like one.
-Let Reverend King speak.
Let the reverend speak. -Reverend King.
-If a protest against the buses is gonna work,
it's critical that we be together.
-That's right. -That's right.
-Divisiveness is the sure path to failure.
-And that's what we're doing right now.
-The charge was disorderly conduct.
-And you don't think that's gonna be a problem?
-Mrs. Parks was not disorderly.
She did not resist or in any way get belligerent
with the arresting officers.
Plus, there's a law that says that a colored person
doesn't have to give up their seat to a white
if they're seated in the colored section
and there's no other seats open.
-Well, I didn't know that.
-You and every other Negro in Montgomery.
-Bottom line is that bus was filled.
You were withinyour lawful right not get to up. -Mm-hmm.
-Just get her off.
-Look over there at the bus stop.
-officer: Yeah, we get something to eat.
-It wasn't realistic to expect everybody would walk.
-Nana. -A lot of folks just live too far.
-Y'all getting on the bus or not?
-I ain't getting on until Jim Crow gets off.
-I'll see you, brother.
-Sweet Mabel. It's gonna be a good day.
Them buses naked as jaybirds.
-Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth so help you God?
-I do.
-Miss Wycliff, where were you
approximately 7:00 p.m.
on the evening of December 1st, 1955?
-I was riding the bus.
I got on at the Court Square bus stop.
-And did you see the arrest of the Parks woman?
-I saw it as clearly as I see you.
-At the time of her altercation
with the driver, Mr. Blake,
were there any empty seats
in the colored section of that bus?
-There were plenty of empty seats.
-That's a lie.
-I'll have order in my court.
-Hey, Parks. -Hey, Johnnie.
-Are y'all ready? -Yeah.
-Oh, Miss Leona, look at that pretty tree.
-That's Rosie's handiwork.
-Oh, Rosa.
All the folks, well, they, they riled up.
-Aren't y'all going? -Going where?
-The Holt Street Church. There's a mass meeting called.
-About what?
-The protest.
I think they gonna continue it,
and they wanna know if you're coming.
-What they need with Rosa? -Well, I think that--
I guess they thought it would be good
if she was there.
-Well, good for who?
-Well, if y'all are going, you better come on and hurry up.
Now, look, half the colored folk
in all Montgomery talking about this meeting.
This is an important meeting. Come on with me, Miss Leona.
I'm telling you, this is a-- this is it.
This is an important meeting.
Yeah, they're riled up, Rosa.
-Parks. -They're using you, Rosa. Can't you see it?
-Yes, I do see it, and I don't mind.
-Well, I mind.
I mind them using my wife.
You're not Harriet Tubman, damn it.
-No, I'm only Rosa Parks,
and I am your wife.
So, if you do not want me to go to this meeting...
I won't.
-You go on.
Do what you wanna do.
-Up here, Sister Parks.
Ladies and gentlemen,
the heroine of our finest hour,
Mrs. Rosa Parks.
-Mrs. Parks. God bless her.
-There she is.
-Just the other day,
just last Thursday to be exact,
one of Montgomery's finest citizens,
not one of the finest Negro citizens
but one of the finest citizens in Montgomery
was taken from a bus and carried to jail
and arrested because she refused to give up her seat
to a white person. -Praise the Lord.
-And since it had to happen,
I'm so happy it happened to a person like Mrs. Rosa Parks
for nobody can doubt
the boundless outreach of her integrity,
the height of her character,
or the depth of her Christian commitment
to the teachings of Jesus.
-Yes, Lord.
-We're going to work with grim and firm determination
to gain justice in this city.
-Amen. -Preach.
-And we are not wrong.
If we are wrong,
the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong.
-If we are wrong,
the Constitution of the United States is wrong.
-If we are wrong,
God Almighty is wrong.
-If we are wrong, justice is a lie.
And we are determined here in Montgomery
to work and fight until justice
runs down like water... -Yes, Lord.
-Rosa.
-Yes, Mr. Bradley.
-Your position has been eliminated, Rosa.
I'm sorry.
-Business is down and-- -Down?
But this is as busy as it gets all year.
-Well, not if your boycott continues.
Your pay through last week.
-Up there, it's Rosa Parks.
-Get the door.
Get the door!
Kick it. Kick it!
-It's me, it's me. -Damn it!
-I saw them out front, so I decided
to come through the back.
It's all right.
It's okay.
Where's Mama?
-The reverend and Miss Davis gonna look after her tonight.
We had to board up the house for safety, Rosa.
We can't take much more of this.
-We're supposed to call the police
when they come like this.
-What for?
They never do anything about it.
Hell, half of them crackers under them hoods is police.
-We're still supposed to call for the record.
Legally, it could help us.
-Why are you so late?
-I was out looking for work.
-You lost your job?
-They said business was down, so they had to let me go.
-But it'll be all right, I'll find something.
And with your job-- -My job?
Which mean the job I used to have?
-What happened?
-Let's just say it's no secret
who my wife is.
Hello?
-No, no, no.
-Oh, it's Granddaddy. Come on.
-We got some new ones just down there.
-We had a good rain.
-What time's the next carpool?
Might as well look at your watch and pick a number.
It's just as good as the schedule.
-If you don't wanna wait, you can catch the city bus.
It ought to be by directly.
-Yeah, well, I, I just might do that.
-One of my customers from the store, Mrs. Rymer,
says she might have some more work for us
when this is finished.
-Well, bless Mrs. Rymer's heart
and Mr. Rymer, too, for looking the other way.
Parks here?
-Haven't seen him since early this morning.
-Oh, baby.
-I'm losing him, Mama.
-No, Rosie.
Raymond loves you.
-I know he does.
That is why it hurts to see him like this.
-This is hard for everybody these days, Rosa.
-But it's my fault.
-It's not your fault.
-Yes, it is.
I was the one who sat on that bus.
I was the one who dared that driver to deal with me.
-And he did, so...
here we are.
Are you trying to tell me that you'd take it all back?
-Yes.
No.
I don't know.
-You do know.
You know.
And knowing what you do now,
you would still do exactly the same thing
because you can't help yourself.
You would do it because that's who you are, Rosie.
Oh, thank God.
I thank God, Rosie, that's who you are.
I love you, baby.
-This protest ain't doing nothing but jiving folks.
Jiving folks into thinking something gonna change.
Ain't nothing going to change
because Mr. Charlie ain't no closer
with treating colored folk riding on them buses now
than when that lady started this mess.
-Well, somebody had to do something.
-Yeah, well, I'm tired of it.
-I'm tired of it, too, son.
-See that? It just ain't me.
-'Cause these feet long wore out.
Done seen more miles
and red sand
than your'n ever will.
-Yeah, well, I done my share of walking.
-My soul is weary, son.
Weary of being treated...
like less than a man.
-Yeah, old man. I... I know what you mean.
-You don't know what I mean, boy,
and you don't know what that lady was saying
on that bus,
but I know what she was saying.
So I'm gonna keep on a'walking
as long as I have to.
'Cause these feet may be tired,
but my soul...
is rested.
- Another bus.
- Yeah, I can see that.
-Hey, old man.
Here, let me help you with it.
Okay? -Thank you, son.
-All right.
-When did you get home?
-Just got here.
-What are you doing?
-Reminding myself just how lucky I am.
I remember when we first started courting.
You wouldn't come to the door.
I knew there was something about you
worth coming back for.
I knew that first day...
outside the barber shop.
If I had known way back then...
you're gonna turn this city,
maybe the whole South, upside down...
-Would you have still kept coming back?
-I don't know.
What you did on that bus changed a lot things, Rosa.
Made a lot people think about themselves...
about how they treat people,
about how they live their lives.
-I never meant for it to change us.
-I know.
But it did.
And even though it took me a while to see it...
it was a good change.
-I really didn't do anything, Parks.
All this to do about me and that bus.
-For most of us alive today,
in a very real sense, this journey began
43 years ago
when a woman named Rosa Parks sat down on a bus in Alabama
and wouldn't get up.
She's sitting down with the First Lady tonight,
and she may get up or not as she chooses.