“Jeanne’s book not only inspired the documentary but has been a catalyst in changing our national understanding of Rosa Parks. Highly recommend!”
—Soledad O’Brien, executive producer of the Peabody Award–winning documentary The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks
The NAACP Image Award–winning book that has helped redefine the public understanding of the civil rights icon—revealing her to be a radical and committed activist
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks is the definitive political biography of Parks, examining her 6 decades of activism and challenging passive perceptions of her contributions in the civil rights movement.
Including a new introduction titled “Nine Ways to Be Like Rosa Parks in the Age of Black Lives Matter,” public historian Jeanne Theoharis provides vital insight the her life and activism. She not only reveals Parks’s personal, financial, and political struggles, but also highlights the danger of the “quiet seamstress” narrative, especially in an age where civil rights activism can be weaponized against those working for change.
Presenting a powerful corrective to the popular iconography of Rosa Parks, Theoharis excavates her political philosophy and 6 decades of activism. By detailing the political depth of a national heroine who dedicated her life to fighting inequality, Theoharis resurrects a civil rights movement radical who has been hidden in plain sight far too long, further showing how Parks and others helped pave the way for future activist organizations.
“The Rosa Parks in this book is as much Malcolm X as she is Martin Luther King Jr.”
—Charles Blow, The New York Times
“Jeanne Theoharis gives us the gift of a fully human Rosa Parks, who studied, organized, loved, struggled, and stayed committed to freedom her entire life. This Rosa, the person not the myth, offers current organizers a tangible model for both engaging with and being part of our communities in authentic ways. This is a gift to movement building in our generation.”
—Mariame Kaba, organizer and educator, Interrupting Criminalization
“Richly informative, calmly passionate and much needed.”
—Nell Irvin Painter, The New York Times Book Review
“In the first sweeping history of Parks’s life, Theoharis shows us . . . [that] Parks not only sat down on the bus; she stood on the right side of justice for her entire life.”
—Julian Bond, chairman emeritus, NAACP
“The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks will undoubtedly be hailed as one of the most important scholarly contributions to civil rights history ever written.”
—Melissa Harris-Perry, former host, MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry
“Jeanne’s book not only inspired the documentary but has been a catalyst in changing our national understanding of Rosa Parks. Highly recommend!”
—Soledad O’Brien, executive producer of the Peabody Award–winning documentary The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks
INTRODUCTION TO THE 2025 EDITION
Ten Ways to Be Like Rosa Parks in the Age of Black Lives Matter
INTRODUCTION TO THE 2015 EDITION
“Freedom Fighters Never Retire”
INTRODUCTION
National Honor/Public Mythology:
The Passing of Rosa Parks
CHAPTER ONE
“A Life History of Being Rebellious”:
The Early Years of Rosa McCauley Parks
CHAPTER TWO
“It Was Very Difficult to Keep Going When All Our Work Seemed to Be in Vain”:
The Civil Rights Movement before the Bus Boycott
CHAPTER THREE
“I Had Been Pushed As Far As I Could Stand to Be Pushed”:
Rosa Parks’s Bus Stand
CHAPTER FOUR:
“There Lived a Great People”:
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
CHAPTER FIVE
“It Is Fine to Be a Heroine but the Price Is High”:
The Suffering of Rosa Parks
CHAPTER SIX
“The Northern Promised Land That Wasn’t”:
Rosa Parks and the Black Freedom Struggle in Detroit
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Any Move to Show We Are Dissatisfied”:
Mrs. Parks in the Black Power Era
CONCLUSION
“Racism Is Still Alive”:
Negotiating the Politics of Being a Symbol
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
NOTES
INDEX