Review Source: Zinn Education Project
Book Author: Jeanne Theoharis
Finally, a book about the real Rosa Parks — the Rosa Parks who was a lifelong activist, tireless organizer, and who did so much more than refuse to give up her seat on that bus in Montgomery, Alabama. In story after story, Jeanne Theoharis and Brandy Colbert breathe life into the rebellious Mrs. Rosa Parks, a fighter for justice who will intrigue and inspire young people. And for all of us who want to teach honestly about Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement, this is an essential resource. — Bill Bigelow, curriculum editor, Rethinking Schools; co-director, Zinn Education Project
Presenting a corrective to the popular notion of Rosa Parks as the quiet seamstress who performed a single act that sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and birthed the modern Civil Rights Movement, Jeanne Theoharis provides a revealing window into Parks’ politics and decades of activism. She shows readers how the movement radically sought — for more than a half a century — to expose and eradicate the racial-caste system in jobs, schools, public services, and criminal justice and how Rosa Parks was a key player throughout. Continue reading on the Zinn Education Project.
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks (Adapted for Young People) by Jeanne Theoharis
Published by Beacon Press on February 2, 2021
Genres: Banned Books, Biography and Autobiography, Black History, Civil Rights Movement, Women, Young Adult
Pages: 304
Reading Level: High School
ISBN: 9780807067581
Review Source: Zinn Education Project
Also by this author: The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks
Publisher's Synopsis: "A must-read for young people.”—Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy
Now adapted for readers ages 12 and up, the award-winning biography that examines Rosa Parks’s life and 60 years of radical activism and brings the civil rights movement in the North and South to life.
The basis for the documentary of the same name, executive produced by award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien, now streaming on Peacock. The documentary is the recepient of the 2022 Television Academy Honors Award.
A Chicago Public Library’s “Best of the Best Books of 2021” Selection · A Kirkus Reviews “Best YA Biography and Memoir of 2021” Selection
Rosa Parks is one of the most well-known Americans today, but much of what is known and taught about her is incomplete, distorted, and just plain wrong. Adapted for young people from the NAACP Image Award–winning The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, Jeanne Theoharis and Brandy Colbert shatter the myths that Parks was meek, accidental, tired, or middle class. They reveal a lifelong freedom fighter whose activism began two decades before her historic stand that sparked the Montgomery bus boycott and continued for 40 years after. Readers will understand what it was like to be Parks, from standing up to white supremacist bullies as a young person to meeting her husband, Raymond, who showed her the possibility of collective activism, to her years of frustrated struggle before the boycott, to the decade of suffering that followed for her family after her bus arrest. The book follows Parks to Detroit, after her family was forced to leave Montgomery, Alabama, where she spent the second half of her life and reveals her activism alongside a growing Black Power movement and beyond.
Because Rosa Parks was active for 60 years, in the North as well as the South, her story provides a broader and more accurate view of the Black freedom struggle across the twentieth century. Theoharis and Colbert show young people how the national fable of Parks and the civil rights movement—celebrated in schools during Black History Month — has warped what we know about Parks and stripped away the power and substance of the movement. The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks illustrates how the movement radically sought to expose and eradicate racism in jobs, housing, schools, and public services, as well as police brutality and the over-incarceration of Black people — and how Rosa Parks was a key player throughout.
Rosa Parks placed her greatest hope in young people—in their vision, resolve, and boldness to take the struggle forward. As a young adult, she discovered Black history, and it sustained her across her life. The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks will help do that for a new generation.
Leave a Reply