Every week, we talk at length about the women who are currently in the media but we don’t talk about the women who still influence us from the past. With this in mind, once a month we will take a look at an inspirational woman from the past and what she achieved. The inspirational woman that we will take a look at this week is the inspirational force that was the amazing Rosa Parks, a civil rights activist who one day just decided that she could take no more. Now known as the "First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement", Parks, nee McCauley, was born in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1913. Her parents separated soon afterwards, and Parks went to live with her mother and grandmother, who she ended up taking care of. Rosa married Raymond Parks, who encouraged her to finish her high school diploma. She eventually went on to attend the Highlander Folk School, a centre for activism in Worker's Rights and racial equality. Parks joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and was elected to Secretary in the Montgomery branch. However, she grew up in a harsh society dictated by the Jim Crow laws in Alabama which included segregation of white people from coloured people in public places, on buses and trains, even school buses were not provided for black children going to school. Education for black people was woefully underfunded. At the time of Park's protest, the bus laws segregated blacks from whites, reserving the front section of the bus for white people and the back of the bus for the black customers. However, black people were 75% of those who were using the bus transport. When the white section was filled, black people were either asked to move to the back of the bus, stand or even leave the bus, despite having paid a fare. On Thursday, 1st December, 1955, Parks boarded her bus home after working for the entire day. When the bus became filled, the white section was moved and Parks was asked to give up her seat. When she refused, the bus driver informed her that he would have to call the police if she didn't get out of the seat. Rosa was arrested and charged with Chapter 6, Section 11 segregation law of the Montgomery City code. Recalling the incident in later years, Parks declared: "I only knew that, as I was being arrested, that it was the very last time that I would ever ride in humiliation of this kind..." Following the arrest, the local community along the NAACP organised the Montgomery Bus Boycott due to Park's arrest. Rosa herself was charged with disorderly conduct and violating a local ordinance. On this basis, she challenged the segregation laws in the South. Due to the success of the one day boycott, the Montgomery Bus Boycott continued for 381 days until eventually the law on segregation on buses was repealed. Parks went on to become one of the foremost members of the Civil Rights organisation, travelling across the country and speaking out at events. Due to the nature of her work, she was dismissed from her job and eventually hired her as a secretary and receptionist for his congressional office in Detroit for John Conyers where she worked until her retirement. However, her defiance and the achievements of the NAACP group were difficult to overlook. She was a brilliant, humble woman, stronger than her quiet self gave away and someone who was seen as inspirational to the strength of the Civil Rights movement in the South. “You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right. ” Well said Rosa, well said.