I'm tired of being treated like a second-class citizen.

 

 

 

 

Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome.

Rosa Parks

 

 

Why do you all push us around?

Rosa Parks

 

It was not pre-arranged. It just happened that the driver made a demand and I just didn't feel like obeying his demand. I was quite tired after spending a full day working.

Rosa Parks

 

My only concern was to get home after a hard day's work.

Rosa Parks

 

At the time I was arrested I had no idea it would turn into this. It was just a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in.

Rosa Parks

 

Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.

Rosa Parks

 

Each person must live their life as a model for others.

Rosa Parks

 

 

I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free... so other people would be also free.

Rosa Parks

 

Have you ever been hurt and the place tries to heal a bit, and you just pull the scar off of it over and over again.

Rosa Parks

 

 

Although originally projected to last 6 months, the study actually went on for 40 years.

What Went Wrong?

In 1932, the Public Health Service, working with the Tuskegee Institute, began a study to record the natural history of syphilis in hopes of justifying treatment programs for blacks. It was called the "Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male."
The study initially involved 600 black men – 399 with syphilis, 201 who did not have the disease. The study was conducted without the benefit of patients' informed consent. Researchers told the men they were being treated for "bad blood," a local term used to describe several ailments, including syphilis, anemia, and fatigue. In truth, they did not receive the proper treatment needed to cure their illness. In exchange for taking part in the study, the men received free medical exams, free meals, and burial insurance. Although originally projected to last 6 months, the study actually went on for 40 years.

In July 1972, an Associated Press story about the Tuskegee Study caused a public outcry that led the Assistant Secretary for Health and Scientific Affairs to appoint an Ad Hoc Advisory Panel to review the study. The panel had nine members from the fields of medicine, law, religion, labor, education, health administration, and public affairs.
The panel found that the men had agreed freely to be examined and treated. However, there was no evidence that researchers had informed them of the study or its real purpose. In fact, the men had been misled and had not been given all the facts required to provide informed consent.
The men were never given adequate treatment for their disease. Even when penicillin became the drug of choice for syphilis in 1947, researchers did not offer it to the subjects. The advisory panel found nothing to show that subjects were ever given the choice of quitting the study, even when this new, highly effective treatment became widely used.

One of The Most-Heinous, Race-Motivated Crimes in America’s History

Although all evidence pointed to Bryant and Milam killing Emmett, a grand jury in November of that year neglected to indict the pair in the kidnapping of the boy, although they all but admitted their wrongdoing in an interview under the protection of double jeopardy.
Standing as one of the most-heinous, race-motivated crimes in America’s history, the kidnapping and savage lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till (pictured) in Mississippi still stirs embers of anger in the minds of many who have endured racism and injustice. Considered a transformative moment in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, Till’s death shocked a nation and still resonates deeply in the minds of Mississippians and others abroad.  The circumstances surrounding Emmett’s death remain murky.  His murder was supposedly sparked by Emmett making inappropriate advances toward a 21-year-old White woman, while visiting his mother’s home state in the Mississippi Delta region. 
Several accounts have been reported of what Emmett Till actually said to the woman. Some reports say that Till wolf-whistled at Bryant, while others said he used suggestive language in a means to entice her. Carolyn Bryant later said that Till grabbed her around the waist and asked for a date and said that he used “unprintable” words as well.
The kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till remains as one of Black America’s most-sorrowful moments but also a galvanizing one as well. Even as many relive the incident each time they’re exposed to it, there is some comfort that Emmett Till’s mother fought to the end to fight such injustice across the country and that the legacy of eliminating hate crime still lives on to this day. 
While Bryant and Milam felt justified in their actions, they both died of cancer in their 60s. Holding steadfast to their racist pride, the pair would be haunted by the death of Emmett Till in every instance and never found peace again.