The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks

We saw this fascinating documentary at the Traverse CIty Film Festival today. What a revelation. Living in Michigan most of my life I saw Mrs. Parks as someone who performed a brave act in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat and move to the back of the bus as requested by the driver on the segregated municipal bus line of Montgomery, Alabama. She was arrested and that initiated the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott. But to learn that she was a civil rights activist both before that incident and for her whole life thereafter was startling. And to find out that she lived in poverty for many years after moving to Detroit, with male civil rights activists being unwilling to employ her, sheds light on the patriarchal structure of even the black civil rights leaders of that time. This film is an engrossing story of a humble and non-assuming female activist, directed and shot in stylish fashion by directors Johanna Hamilton and Yoruba Richen.

Civil Rights history. I can assume the low ratings are individuals who want to 'whitewash' this part of history. Same idea with the Holocaust, if people don't believe it happened - they will attempt to remove it's history. Rosa Parks pushed it is about education, learning and information don't be blind to items you disagree with. Don't tolerate politicians trying to ban books, discussions of LGBTQ or other sexuality topics. As people try to remove history, there is a greater chance it will happen again. Civil Rights was the push for equality. The entire message is everyone should be treated fairly regardless of race, gender or race.

I didn't like so much how it tied itself in with a lot of more modern day issues that I feel like are a lot more debatable and two-sided, more so than the more blatant discrimination back then (voting and voter suppression). However I did like how it educated us on what Rosa Parks's actual life was like and what else she did that's not traditionally taught in a classroom. Rosa Parks remains one of the most iconic and brave individuals of her time who achieved most of her recognition with what she chose to do at the very start of the Civil Rights Movement in America, and I liked how the documentary educated us on even just that as well.