While progress seemed on the horizon, misfortune would come for Rosa Parks, who lost her job as a seamstress and received death threats two years after the Montgomery bus boycott. Searching for a safe space, Parks found peace in Detroit.
With a change in scenery came a change in ideology. In stark contrast to the peaceful protest movement that would define her legacy, Parks soon shifted into the work of the Black Panther Party. But this isn’t as surprising as it seems.
Parks learned from the young Panthers and even attended the 1968 Black Power conference with Stokely Carmichael. She protested against endorsing any candidate for president that year with the Panthers. What brought on such a change in Parks’ viewpoint?
It wasn’t Parks that changed, it was the movement. Her goal was always for Black people to reach liberation. She realized that nurturing and supporting the future of our fight could take us to victory.
Parks embracing the new direction of the civil rights movement reminds us that the outlook of liberation will change in our lifetimes. It always does. It’s essential for each generation to take the lessons they've learned and pass them on to the next until we reach our goal.