The Rosa Parks Story (2002)
The Rosa Parks Story is a 2002 American television movie written by Paris Qualles and directed by Julie Dash. Angela Bassett portrays Rosa Parks, with Cicely Tyson in a supporting role as her mother. It was broadcast by CBS on February 24, 2002. It received awards from the NAACP and the Black Reel Awards.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00:00 Wait now, she's coming, she's coming.
00:00:02 All the newspaper's, Rosie.
00:00:04 GP will come.
00:00:06 We'll be at Waco tomorrow.
00:00:08 The editor of Look Magazine is here with us, photographer.
00:00:11 Everybody's with you.
00:00:13 Rosie, you can do this.
00:00:14 It's time.
00:00:15 Rosie, you should just do it.
00:00:17 Rosie, you don't have to do this.
00:00:19 If you don't want to.
00:00:21 I know.
00:00:24 I'm sorry, Jim.
00:00:26 We're behind you, Mrs. Preston.
00:00:28 You can do this.
00:00:30 Everybody's with you.
00:00:32 Take it easy.
00:00:35 You're so pretty.
00:00:37 We're behind you, Mrs. Preston.
00:00:39 You can do this.
00:00:41 Everybody's with you.
00:00:43 Take it easy.
00:00:45 Take it easy.
00:00:47 Get away, folks, get away.
00:01:04 Rosa, what were you thinking when you refused to give up your seat?
00:01:08 I wasn't a setup.
00:01:10 [Gun cocks]
00:01:15 [Shouting]
00:01:35 [Shouting]
00:01:51 Take us around the park.
00:02:00 Mrs. Bartlett, give us a smile.
00:02:05 Okay.
00:02:06 All right.
00:02:09 Set up right now.
00:02:13 Mrs. Bartlett.
00:02:14 Mrs. Bartlett.
00:02:16 Rosie.
00:02:17 Rosie.
00:02:18 Rosie.
00:02:20 Rosie.
00:02:21 Rosie.
00:02:22 We got a girl here.
00:02:24 I wish I was going here.
00:02:26 Rosie.
00:02:27 Rosie.
00:02:28 Rosie.
00:02:29 Come on now, baby.
00:02:30 Careful stepping off the trolley.
00:02:36 Rosalind, you be sure and behave yourself now.
00:02:40 Pay attention.
00:02:41 Yes, ma'am.
00:02:42 Miss White's going to call some minds.
00:02:44 Yes, ma'am.
00:02:45 Speak only when you're spoken to.
00:02:48 Teacher asks a question, you know the answer.
00:02:51 Open your mouth.
00:02:52 Don't be shy.
00:02:54 Let her know what a smart little girl you still can be.
00:02:58 Yes, ma'am.
00:02:59 Go on, it's back to you.
00:03:02 You look so fun.
00:03:04 [Children singing]
00:03:08 Good morning, Miss White.
00:03:11 Good morning, girls.
00:03:13 We have a new pupil joining us today, Rosa McCauley.
00:03:19 You can sit right back there.
00:03:22 You'll be fine.
00:03:25 Thank you, Miss White.
00:03:31 I need to see everyone's eyes up front, please.
00:03:35 Thank you.
00:03:36 [Children singing]
00:03:39 How are you doing?
00:03:42 You look so fun.
00:03:45 [Children singing]
00:03:50 You're from the country, aren't you?
00:03:53 Kind of.
00:03:54 I've heard of that.
00:03:56 I don't know where it is, but I've heard of it.
00:04:00 I'm Rebecca Daniels.
00:04:01 You can call me Johnny.
00:04:02 So, what do you think about Miss White's school so far?
00:04:06 It's a lot different from what it used to be.
00:04:09 But this is the first time you was ever in the school room
00:04:12 with just the right on and glass in the windows,
00:04:15 and you've never seen a chalkboard before,
00:04:17 or had a white teacher?
00:04:19 How do you know all this?
00:04:21 Only country girls eat tomato sandwiches.
00:04:25 [♪♪♪]
00:04:37 Please pass your tests forward.
00:04:42 Rowena, did you not do well on your test?
00:04:45 I never do well, Miss Barton.
00:04:46 I'm too stupid.
00:04:48 Rowena, you are not stupid.
00:04:50 I don't know why we're bothering with all this reading and arithmetic
00:04:53 when all we're going to end up doing for jobs is
00:04:55 washing somebody's clothes and wiping their baby's snotty noses.
00:04:58 Does anybody want to answer Rowena's question?
00:05:07 Rosa, why do we bother?
00:05:12 We bother so we can be equal to everybody else.
00:05:16 We're not equal to everybody else.
00:05:18 We're not equal to white folks.
00:05:23 I was raised to believe if I put my mind to it,
00:05:25 I could do whatever I wanted in this world.
00:05:28 I was taught no one's better than me.
00:05:30 No man, no woman, black or white.
00:05:33 No one.
00:05:34 If white folks say--
00:05:35 No one.
00:05:36 A person can take everything from you, even your life,
00:05:38 but they can't take your dignity.
00:05:40 Can't nobody take that from you, but you.
00:05:43 That's what my grandpappy told me, and I believe it.
00:05:48 If you learn nothing else at Mrs. White's school,
00:05:52 may the blessed Lord help you remember what Rosa just taught you.
00:05:57 Amen.
00:05:59 [indistinct chatter]
00:06:02 You ain't been nowhere else, Rosa.
00:06:04 It's all right.
00:06:06 I love you.
00:06:08 [indistinct chatter]
00:06:11 Rosa? Rosa?
00:06:13 Oh, yes, ma'am.
00:06:14 How is your mother?
00:06:16 She's doing fair.
00:06:18 I'm coming over to see her real soon, hear?
00:06:21 Yes, ma'am.
00:06:22 Bye-bye.
00:06:23 [indistinct chatter]
00:06:26 We wear the mask that grins and lies.
00:06:32 It hides our cheeks and shaves our eyes.
00:06:35 Mm-hmm.
00:06:36 This debt we pay to human guys.
00:06:40 Torn and bleeding hearts.
00:06:42 We smile.
00:06:44 Pogs, don't let me have to take that straight.
00:06:46 Raise out your hands.
00:06:48 What?
00:06:50 Those are the words of Paul Lawrence Dunbar.
00:06:53 Who?
00:06:54 A great Negro poet.
00:06:56 Must have been one of them challenges here.
00:06:58 Real conker-buster.
00:07:00 My people, my people.
00:07:02 [indistinct chatter]
00:07:06 [indistinct chatter]
00:07:09 [indistinct chatter]
00:07:12 [indistinct chatter]
00:07:15 [indistinct chatter]
00:07:18 [indistinct chatter]
00:07:21 We're working against time to get the Scottsboro Boys free.
00:07:25 Well, at least off death row.
00:07:27 The overseas newspapers are starting to make a ruckus about it.
00:07:30 Isn't the NAACP trying--
00:07:32 NAACP is just a bunch of scared old men who blow hot and cold.
00:07:37 It's going to take money to help those boys, a lot of it.
00:07:41 So I'm working with a group here in Montgomery, trying to raise them.
00:07:45 It's dangerous business, Pogs.
00:07:49 It may be.
00:07:51 What he's doing now?
00:07:52 Pogs trying to rob the crater.
00:07:54 Those high school guys.
00:07:55 What about the one in the purple sweater?
00:07:57 I've never seen her before.
00:07:59 Maybe she's new.
00:08:00 She's a damn brother.
00:08:02 She look better than new.
00:08:04 [indistinct chatter]
00:08:06 Hello, hello.
00:08:07 Hello there, lady.
00:08:09 Hello, Pogs.
00:08:11 No need to stand out in the rain.
00:08:14 All right.
00:08:16 [indistinct chatter]
00:08:19 It'd be a crying shame to get that pretty sweater all wet.
00:08:24 It's just water.
00:08:26 It'll dry.
00:08:28 It'll dry, Sunny Smile.
00:08:30 I'm sure it will.
00:08:32 There's some newspaper.
00:08:34 Take home what you like.
00:08:36 Negro newspapers may be hard to come by, but not in this shop.
00:08:41 Isn't he cute?
00:08:44 Pogs, girl.
00:08:46 Raymond Pogs.
00:08:47 The Chicago Defender.
00:08:50 He too light-skinned for my taste.
00:08:52 But he just right for me.
00:08:55 I reckon we can scotch-borrow a Legal Defense Fund.
00:08:58 Really?
00:08:59 Life is about facing danger, my friends.
00:09:02 About taking risks.
00:09:04 We have to stand up for what's right,
00:09:06 even if we have to put our lives on the line.
00:09:10 The way I see it, every Negro in this town
00:09:13 should be behind supporting those scotch-borrowed boys.
00:09:16 They need money for their Legal Defense Fund.
00:09:20 And I have the address right here
00:09:23 where you can make your contribution.
00:09:25 [coughing]
00:09:27 That's the shop owner.
00:09:29 Let's go.
00:09:31 I'm just gonna go do my schoolwork.
00:09:36 Maybe we should leave.
00:09:41 We don't want to be any businessmen being in here.
00:09:43 We already were.
00:09:45 [music playing]
00:09:49 [music playing]
00:09:52 We wear the mask that hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,
00:09:58 beneath our feet and along the mile.
00:10:02 Let the world dream otherwise.
00:10:06 We wear the mask.
00:10:08 Paul Lawrence Gunfire.
00:10:14 I better be getting home.
00:10:16 I see y'all later.
00:10:18 Wait, Rosie.
00:10:20 Wait, Rosie.
00:10:21 [laughing]
00:10:23 [music playing]
00:10:26 Hey.
00:10:35 I'm Raymond Parrs.
00:10:37 Everybody calls me Parr.
00:10:39 I wish you would, too.
00:10:41 I-- I-- I have to go.
00:10:43 What's your name?
00:10:44 Uh, I'm getting wet.
00:10:47 You better hurry up and tell me your name before I drop.
00:10:51 I-- I really do.
00:10:53 I have to go home.
00:10:55 Said I fell in love with a gal.
00:10:57 I thought was kind.
00:10:59 She made me lose my mind.
00:11:02 And almost lose my mind.
00:11:04 [music playing]
00:11:07 Man.
00:11:10 [laughing]
00:11:12 [laughing]
00:11:14 Hey, now, Parr, you're going to make me late for work.
00:11:17 What's her name?
00:11:18 [laughing]
00:11:19 Fanny, what's her name, girl?
00:11:21 I shouldn't tell you.
00:11:22 Well, sure you should.
00:11:24 Or you wouldn't be sweet Fanny.
00:11:27 Rosa.
00:11:28 Our cousin's name is Rosa Louise McCauley.
00:11:33 Thank you, Fanny.
00:11:35 Tell your cousin I'll be seeing her.
00:11:38 Hmm.
00:11:39 I beg for a shave, you fancy man.
00:11:42 What you paying for is my first date
00:11:45 with Rosa Louise McCauley.
00:11:48 [laughing]
00:11:51 Huh?
00:11:52 Drive down near Tennessee.
00:11:55 Mm-hmm, right up near the border.
00:11:57 Those folks are plenty mad over this.
00:11:59 Of course they're mad, brother.
00:12:01 Everybody knows them boys didn't break
00:12:03 those white girls in that train.
00:12:05 There's even talk about the NAACP
00:12:07 coming down from New York.
00:12:08 Oh, they just going to make it worse for everybody.
00:12:11 They've been sentenced to die, Mama.
00:12:13 How much worse can it get?
00:12:15 [car engine]
00:12:18 What can that be?
00:12:20 Hmm?
00:12:21 What can that be?
00:12:22 Can't be nobody we know, not with a car.
00:12:25 That's not just a car.
00:12:27 That's a Studebaker, a red Studebaker
00:12:29 with a colored man getting out.
00:12:32 [laughing]
00:12:36 Hey, man.
00:12:37 How you doing?
00:12:38 How you doing?
00:12:39 All right.
00:12:40 Wow, a real Studebaker.
00:12:42 [screaming]
00:12:43 Mama?
00:12:44 It's him.
00:12:46 Him who?
00:12:47 Oh, the barber, Mama.
00:12:51 Parks, Raymond Parks, I think that's what he said.
00:12:54 His name was--
00:12:55 How'd you get to meet a barber?
00:12:57 I didn't meet him.
00:12:58 He met me.
00:12:59 Motion picture camera, something like that.
00:13:01 Go on, I want to do a poker game.
00:13:03 I can't see.
00:13:04 Mama, go out there and tell him
00:13:06 I'm not at home.
00:13:07 [engine starting]
00:13:09 [music playing]
00:13:12 [phone ringing]
00:13:36 Hey, man.
00:13:37 How you doing?
00:13:38 Listen, I'm looking for Rosa.
00:13:39 Is she home?
00:13:40 Ooh.
00:13:42 Rosa.
00:13:44 Guess not, man.
00:13:45 I see you came by, though.
00:13:46 Yeah, all right.
00:13:47 Give her these.
00:13:48 I'll do that.
00:13:49 Still want to learn how to drive, though.
00:13:50 Put in a good word for me.
00:13:52 I'll do that.
00:13:53 I'll do that.
00:13:54 I'll do that.
00:13:55 [engine starting]
00:13:56 [phone ringing]
00:13:57 Rosa, that man here again.
00:14:00 Hey, man.
00:14:01 How you doing?
00:14:02 I'm all right.
00:14:03 Is your sister in?
00:14:05 She can't come to the door right now, man.
00:14:07 I tell her you came by, though.
00:14:09 Yeah, I know you did.
00:14:10 [phone ringing]
00:14:11 [engine starting]
00:14:14 [phone ringing]
00:14:17 He's here again?
00:14:20 [music playing]
00:14:23 Rosa, I am just fresh out of patience with you now.
00:14:29 [music playing]
00:14:32 [music playing]
00:14:34 I don't know why he keeps coming back.
00:14:36 [music playing]
00:14:39 Come on, baby.
00:14:40 It's the party.
00:14:41 [music playing]
00:14:47 What did he say, Mama?
00:14:48 [music playing]
00:14:52 He said it's a good thing gladiolas grow year round.
00:14:57 [music playing]
00:15:01 [laughing]
00:15:02 Come on, I want to show you something.
00:15:05 Ooh.
00:15:06 I should have known about this.
00:15:07 I had a problem with my baby.
00:15:09 Oh, it's a little muddy for swimming,
00:15:12 but it's great for fishing.
00:15:14 Oh.
00:15:15 [laughing]
00:15:16 My grandpapa taught me how to fish.
00:15:18 I sure do miss him, even after all these years.
00:15:23 He was born not too far from here.
00:15:25 Spent close to half his life as a slave.
00:15:29 He ever talk about it?
00:15:31 Not to me.
00:15:32 [laughing]
00:15:34 [music playing]
00:15:37 I used to bait my grandpapa's hook
00:15:39 when his eyesight got too bad.
00:15:43 Oh, we'd sit for hours, talk about anything and everything.
00:15:49 Sometimes we'd say nothing at all.
00:15:53 [laughing]
00:15:54 Mama, she used to tease.
00:15:56 She said, I learned to fish before I could even walk.
00:16:01 I don't know about that, but oh, I sure do love it.
00:16:05 Did you fish much?
00:16:15 No.
00:16:18 Your daddy never taught you how?
00:16:23 My daddy never taught me much of anything,
00:16:27 except maybe how many different ways I could eat him.
00:16:31 Oh.
00:16:33 Oh, I'm sorry.
00:16:34 I didn't mean to--
00:16:35 Oh, that's all right.
00:16:38 Pops was a carpenter.
00:16:41 He was also white, close enough to pass for most of the time.
00:16:45 That was his problem, was those times he couldn't pass that--
00:16:51 he ate away at it.
00:16:52 Took it out on my mother and me.
00:17:00 When it finally took off, we had ourselves a little party.
00:17:07 We heard he died falling off a roof.
00:17:12 I had myself an even bigger party.
00:17:14 [birds chirping]
00:17:17 A real big party.
00:17:34 [music playing]
00:17:38 [sniffling]
00:17:41 [sniffling]
00:17:46 [music playing]
00:17:49 [grunting]
00:17:54 [whispering]
00:17:55 This is all I need.
00:17:57 [music playing]
00:18:00 [siren blaring]
00:18:03 Damn.
00:18:05 Don't worry.
00:18:06 It'll be all right.
00:18:07 [music playing]
00:18:10 [grunting]
00:18:12 Woo!
00:18:15 Whose car is this?
00:18:18 Mine.
00:18:19 You wouldn't be lying to me now, would you, boy?
00:18:26 [music playing]
00:18:32 I can vouch that this car is his.
00:18:35 Is that right?
00:18:36 I got the ownership papers right here.
00:18:42 You're moving too fast, boy.
00:18:43 Calling all cars.
00:18:53 Calling all cars.
00:18:54 [police radio chatter]
00:18:56 Get your ass off the road.
00:18:57 [police radio chatter]
00:19:00 [police radio chatter]
00:19:03 [music playing]
00:19:06 [siren blaring]
00:19:27 You did the right thing, Parks.
00:19:31 I didn't do anything.
00:19:35 Sometimes that's the right thing.
00:19:39 Sometimes it ain't.
00:19:43 I know that, too.
00:19:45 [music playing]
00:19:57 [chatter]
00:20:00 Plan must likely lynch these boys.
00:20:04 They aren't going to stand for any local color group
00:20:06 working on that Scottsboro case.
00:20:09 You ready?
00:20:10 [chatter]
00:20:14 [chatter]
00:20:17 [music playing]
00:20:37 [chatter]
00:20:40 Barbershop.
00:20:51 Mr. Jeter?
00:20:52 Yeah?
00:20:53 This is Rosa McCauley.
00:20:55 Oh, hello, Rosa.
00:20:56 I'm looking for Parks.
00:20:58 Parks?
00:20:59 Is he there?
00:21:00 Is he pausing?
00:21:02 Not since he went on down there to Scottsboro.
00:21:05 No, I told him not to go on down there by himself
00:21:07 with all them people.
00:21:08 But you know what he's like.
00:21:10 He just gets to talking and go.
00:21:12 Rosa?
00:21:13 [music playing]
00:21:16 [cheering]
00:21:21 [music playing]
00:21:25 [cheering]
00:21:28 Next week, I'll teach you how to throw a curveball.
00:21:44 Come on, have a drink.
00:21:46 [music playing]
00:21:50 [chatter]
00:21:53 Brother, do you think they'll rob a suitor?
00:22:04 Ain't the only way to find out.
00:22:06 If they catch you, you're going to get us all in trouble.
00:22:08 Not if I switch the signs first.
00:22:10 [music playing]
00:22:13 [chatter]
00:22:16 Why don't you put your lips on that water?
00:22:26 I think it tastes a little worse if I rush the pipes.
00:22:29 [laughter]
00:22:30 Step on back now.
00:22:32 Get on back now, get.
00:22:33 I bet you can't do it.
00:22:37 Do you hear what I'm saying?
00:22:38 [chatter]
00:22:42 Move.
00:22:44 Move.
00:22:45 [chatter]
00:22:48 I can't change the signs back.
00:22:55 Rosa.
00:22:56 Rosa.
00:22:57 [chatter]
00:23:06 [music playing]
00:23:09 Help us, our father, to realize how far we ourselves
00:23:18 are responsible for weakness, sickness, and pain.
00:23:24 Help us to know--
00:23:25 [music playing]
00:23:29 [crying]
00:23:32 Why did you--
00:23:36 I thought that you were dead.
00:23:40 I know.
00:23:42 I'm so sorry.
00:23:44 How did you get-- your car's not outside.
00:23:47 Where's your--
00:23:48 [knocking]
00:23:49 I'm all right.
00:23:50 I'm all right.
00:23:51 What happened to your face?
00:23:57 I sold the car.
00:24:00 What?
00:24:01 Long as I have you, I don't need anything else.
00:24:08 May God bless you and keep you.
00:24:13 I now pronounce you husband and wife.
00:24:15 Mr. Parks, you may now salute Mrs. Parks.
00:24:19 [applause]
00:24:25 Rosa, get--
00:24:27 [applause]
00:24:30 Thanks.
00:24:36 [applause]
00:24:39 [chatter]
00:24:42 [laughter]
00:24:45 [applause]
00:24:48 [chatter]
00:25:01 [whistle]
00:25:06 [chatter]
00:25:09 [chatter]
00:25:13 [chatter]
00:25:16 [chatter]
00:25:28 [chatter]
00:25:31 Hey, what do you think you're doing?
00:25:49 [chatter]
00:25:57 I said, what do you think you're doing?
00:26:01 I'm going to Cleveland Avenue.
00:26:04 Well, if you're going on this bus,
00:26:06 you're going to get off and come back home in the back.
00:26:11 Get off for what?
00:26:13 I'm already on.
00:26:14 Besides, it's raining.
00:26:15 I don't care if the sky is falling.
00:26:18 You are going to ride with my bus.
00:26:21 You're going to get off and come back home round the back.
00:26:25 [chatter]
00:26:28 Do you hear me?
00:26:31 Do not put your hands on me.
00:26:37 [chatter]
00:26:40 Let's go.
00:26:43 Get up.
00:26:46 Come on.
00:26:47 Just get up.
00:26:54 [chatter]
00:26:57 Oh, I'm not sitting next to her.
00:27:09 Get off the bus.
00:27:21 [chatter]
00:27:24 [music playing]
00:27:28 [music playing]
00:27:31 [music playing]
00:27:34 [music playing]
00:27:37 [music playing]
00:27:40 [music playing]
00:27:44 [music playing]
00:28:12 [laughter]
00:28:15 Maybe you can get out of it.
00:28:18 It's a conscription letter, Mama.
00:28:20 You don't get out of being drafted.
00:28:22 But there must be somebody to write to.
00:28:25 And tell them what?
00:28:26 I think it's been a terrible mistake, Mr. Roosevelt.
00:28:28 But my mama don't think I should be
00:28:30 all fighting in nobody's war.
00:28:31 Well, what's wrong with that?
00:28:33 It's the truth.
00:28:34 [laughter]
00:28:35 Oh, Raymond.
00:28:36 Instead of trying to make the world safe for democracy,
00:28:39 this damn country ought to be trying to make
00:28:41 the world safe for the Negro.
00:28:42 Well, now, that's true.
00:28:43 Oh, there's Rosa.
00:28:46 My God.
00:28:47 What happened?
00:28:50 Rosa?
00:28:52 I walked home.
00:28:56 Walk?
00:28:57 That's over five miles.
00:28:58 Did you miss the bus, baby?
00:29:00 No.
00:29:01 What happened?
00:29:04 I was put off.
00:29:07 You were thrown off the bus?
00:29:08 Why?
00:29:09 It doesn't make a difference.
00:29:11 Get some coffee.
00:29:12 Get out of the wet clothes.
00:29:14 My God, you're soaked.
00:29:21 Faith, that's a fair warning.
00:29:24 Oh, we have got a beautiful country.
00:29:27 [thunder]
00:29:42 Did he put his hands on you?
00:29:45 No.
00:29:48 He wanted to.
00:29:53 Why'd he put you off the bus?
00:29:57 Because I did not want to pay my fare.
00:30:00 Get off and get back on in the back.
00:30:08 All right.
00:30:10 Go on, lay back.
00:30:12 Go on, lay back, lay back, lay back.
00:30:15 That's right.
00:30:29 It's been like that ever since there was Charlie.
00:30:32 Well, does that make it right?
00:30:36 I didn't say it was right.
00:30:40 I said that's the way it's always been.
00:30:43 The last time I checked, the dime I pay for the token to ride those buses is the same color as the dime the white folks use.
00:30:50 We are paying to be humiliated, and it does not make sense.
00:30:55 Since when do these pack of words ever make sense?
00:31:04 I'm telling you, folks, I will never forget the driver's fix.
00:31:33 Rosie?
00:31:35 Rosie, didn't you go to school with a girl named Johnny?
00:31:39 He's handing the paper.
00:31:45 Rosie?
00:31:46 Rosie, didn't you go to school with a girl named -- named Johnny?
00:31:51 Well --
00:32:12 So when are we going to stop this voter registration drive?
00:32:14 After the Double B campaign.
00:32:16 Can we help you?
00:32:18 I'm sorry for interrupting.
00:32:20 I'm here to see someone.
00:32:22 Rosie.
00:32:24 [Laughter]
00:32:27 Oh, girl!
00:32:32 Johnny.
00:32:33 So good to see you.
00:32:35 Now, what you doing here?
00:32:37 Well, I saw your picture in the paper.
00:32:41 I'm sorry.
00:32:42 I'm sorry.
00:32:43 No, no, we're talking to him.
00:32:44 No, come on.
00:32:45 No, no, no, stay here.
00:32:48 Oh, this is important.
00:32:50 This is my best friend, everybody.
00:32:53 Now, RD, would you let her have this chair, please?
00:32:56 Okay, stay right here.
00:32:59 Sit right there.
00:33:01 Wait a minute, hold on now.
00:33:03 Are you a member?
00:33:04 Member?
00:33:06 Of the NAACP.
00:33:07 That's us.
00:33:08 The people you just interrupted.
00:33:11 Well, no.
00:33:14 You sit right here.
00:33:17 Well, you are hereby a member in good standing.
00:33:21 Dues are collected at the end of the month.
00:33:24 We're beginning a membership drive.
00:33:27 And you'll be an even better member if you take good notes.
00:33:33 I guess I can.
00:33:38 The loud one, that's E.D. Nixon, the president.
00:33:42 He's a pullman put on his regular job.
00:33:45 He's noisy, but harmless.
00:33:49 Ladies need a ride anywhere?
00:33:51 No, no, we're going to have lunch.
00:33:54 Take my friend to lunch.
00:33:57 Excuse me.
00:33:58 Mr. Nixon, I do not mind being secretary,
00:34:03 but I hope that you do not think that that is all that I can do.
00:34:08 What else can you do?
00:34:10 Well, you tell me what you need,
00:34:13 and I will tell you if I can do it.
00:34:17 Same old Rosa.
00:34:20 We got this group called the Youth Council.
00:34:22 School-age kids in need of an adult advisor for things like counseling,
00:34:27 Bible study, teaching self-esteem.
00:34:30 I love that.
00:34:31 That's what we're looking at.
00:34:32 They also need a little juice, a little protest spirit,
00:34:36 something too many of men get at home.
00:34:39 She can do it, Mr. Nixon.
00:34:41 You got the right one.
00:34:42 She can do it.
00:34:45 Now, you have my stay.
00:34:51 So what have you been doing with yourself?
00:34:53 I've been working at the seamstress,
00:34:55 cross the street at Montgomery Fair department store.
00:34:57 Alterations, dresses.
00:34:59 And a chill.
00:35:02 No.
00:35:03 We've been hoping.
00:35:06 I'm sure you've got some ideas on how you want us to spend our time.
00:35:12 Would you like something to drink?
00:35:13 Hey, wait now.
00:35:15 Now you come all the way down here to find me and then get yourself put to work.
00:35:19 The least I can do is buy you a soda water.
00:35:23 Let me see here.
00:35:25 Oh, that's my voter registration card.
00:35:28 I always wanted to vote for Mr. Roosevelt.
00:35:30 Really?
00:35:31 Eleanor, his wife,
00:35:33 it's impossible for Marian Anderson to sing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
00:35:43 You registered?
00:35:44 Not yet.
00:35:45 Lord, don't tell Mr. Nixon this.
00:35:48 He'll have you tuned up for a lecture,
00:35:50 calling folks who don't vote,
00:35:52 "Deserve the treatment they get."
00:35:57 Two soda waters.
00:35:59 You can call me Johnny.
00:36:00 I'm Cyncia New.
00:36:01 And don't have any friends?
00:36:02 I'll be your best friend.
00:36:04 Miss White, Miss Barton, and all the teachers are from the North.
00:36:08 They seem strict.
00:36:09 They are.
00:36:10 There's something called Quaker.
00:36:12 It's a religion that believes all people are the same and should be treated right.
00:36:16 That's a good religion.
00:36:18 My mother thinks Miss White's insane for putting up with what she does to keep school open.
00:36:22 Like what?
00:36:24 Lots of people don't want her teaching colored girls.
00:36:27 Even burnt the school twice to try to stop her.
00:36:30 But each time, Miss White and other teachers just build it back up and keep on teaching.
00:36:38 Secretary?
00:36:39 Mm-hmm.
00:36:40 The meetings are just once a month.
00:36:42 Secretaries do a lot more work than just go to meetings.
00:36:45 Well, I'm only volunteering, so I'll do as much as I can or I won't to.
00:36:49 That's what scares me.
00:36:51 You do all you're asked to do and then some.
00:36:54 Are you afraid that I won't be home as often?
00:36:57 I'm afraid you can't run fast enough.
00:37:00 Then you won't be home at all.
00:37:02 No, the police watch those meetings, Rosa.
00:37:04 I don't have to tell you what can happen.
00:37:06 I won't be one of the leaders, Pops.
00:37:08 Oh, you think a stick of dynamite cares if you just a secretary?
00:37:12 I want to do this.
00:37:15 You don't need my permission.
00:37:17 I did not ask for your permission, but your approval would be nice.
00:37:21 You want my approval to stick your neck out with a bunch of cowards down at the NAACP?
00:37:27 No, I can't do that.
00:37:28 They're all we have.
00:37:30 And Scottsboro was ten years ago.
00:37:33 That's right, ten years, and those boys are still in prison.
00:37:36 Ten years with the almighty National Association of Colored People
00:37:41 wrangling his hands like a bunch of old ladies shouting for justice with a whisper.
00:37:46 You know, Jews and communists did more to help them boys.
00:37:48 No, they did.
00:37:56 No, you want to do what you want to do?
00:38:08 Let's see.
00:38:23 Ooh, apple pie, too.
00:38:26 The weight of my heart.
00:38:28 The heart I already have.
00:38:30 It's the mind I'm working on.
00:38:42 Pops, I really need you to understand that for the first time in my life, I feel like I can help.
00:38:51 Like maybe I can do something important for our people.
00:38:56 I understand that passion, Rosa.
00:38:59 I was there once, remember?
00:39:01 I know, that's why I was hoping that you--
00:39:02 Yeah, but I'm afraid of that passion, too.
00:39:06 Afraid for all the things that can happen.
00:39:11 What if I promise to be very, very careful?
00:39:16 You can't.
00:39:19 Don't you see?
00:39:21 You can't be careful and be effective.
00:39:27 People have been trying.
00:39:31 300 years.
00:39:56 I'm not going to be careful.
00:40:20 He will not rise and give him because he is his friend.
00:40:25 Yet because of his persistence, he will rise and give him as many as he needs.
00:40:33 All right.
00:40:35 Who can tell me what persistence means?
00:40:38 Yes.
00:41:07 [knocking]
00:41:19 Hello.
00:41:21 I came here to register.
00:41:24 You live in Montgomery County?
00:41:26 Yes.
00:41:27 How many states are there?
00:41:29 48.
00:41:32 How many senators from each state?
00:41:36 96 in the whole country.
00:41:45 Answer the questions completely and legibly, front and back.
00:41:49 Next.
00:41:52 Morning, Mr. Lester.
00:41:53 You finally made it into register.
00:41:55 Yeah, the boys have been hoping to get it done, so I figured I might as well do it.
00:41:58 How's Emma and the kids?
00:42:00 They're good.
00:42:02 You tell her that Janet from down at the county says hi.
00:42:07 That will be $1.50.
00:42:10 That wasn't nearly as hard as I figured.
00:42:13 You tell Hank hello for me.
00:42:15 Oh, I will.
00:42:16 I'll see you in church Sunday.
00:42:17 Okay.
00:42:18 Bye now.
00:42:19 Good day.
00:42:31 [music]
00:42:46 You didn't pass.
00:42:49 What?
00:42:50 You failed the test.
00:42:53 It's a requirement to satisfactorily complete the civic test to register to vote.
00:42:58 I would like the test back, please.
00:43:00 I'm afraid that's against our policy.
00:43:02 Well, how will I know what questions I got wrong?
00:43:05 [music]
00:43:29 I will never, never forget that drowning space.
00:43:39 [music]
00:44:08 She wouldn't even tell you what questions you got wrong.
00:44:10 No.
00:44:11 Give me another one.
00:44:12 The judicial and legislative branches...
00:44:15 Makes and enforces laws.
00:44:17 Next.
00:44:19 The U.S. Supreme Court...
00:44:21 Rosie, you know all of this math, probably better than most lawyers.
00:44:24 How many lawyers do you think they turn away down at that courthouse?
00:44:28 White or colored.
00:44:31 That is my point.
00:44:34 As a U.S. citizen, I have a right to vote, and no person who does not know or who cannot tell me what I got wrong can keep me from that right.
00:44:47 How many United States representatives are in Congress?
00:44:52 435.
00:44:54 Next.
00:44:58 And you're?
00:45:04 Thank you.
00:45:16 What's this?
00:45:17 Oh, I'm sorry.
00:45:19 That one is my coffee.
00:45:21 This is the third time I've taken this test.
00:45:24 What is it?
00:45:25 Oh, the questions from the test.
00:45:28 I wrote them down along with my answers.
00:45:30 If you tell me that I failed again, I want a lawyer to tell me what I'm doing wrong.
00:45:42 We don't want any trouble.
00:45:49 Give it to her.
00:45:52 That'll be $12, $1.50 for each year past the age of 21, the first year you should have registered.
00:46:15 My registration card, please.
00:46:18 You'll get it in the mail.
00:46:23 Thank you.
00:46:31 [ Indiscernible ]
00:47:00 What else to do?
00:47:01 Damn it.
00:47:02 First a Negro soldier gets shot on the bus, now this.
00:47:06 We have to force this city to treat Negro riders on its buses as human beings.
00:47:11 Good evening.
00:47:12 I'm Rosa Parks.
00:47:14 Oh, I'm sorry.
00:47:15 Clifford Virginia Der, Rosa Parks.
00:47:17 Pleasure.
00:47:18 Nice to meet you.
00:47:20 Very nice to meet you, Rosa.
00:47:21 And you, Joanne Robinson, women's political counsel.
00:47:24 Mr. Nixon called me tomorrow for a change of mind.
00:47:27 Very good.
00:47:29 Good night, everybody.
00:47:30 Good night.
00:47:33 What happened?
00:47:35 A colored girl got arrested on the bus, Claudette Colvin.
00:47:39 For not giving a pussy to a white man.
00:47:41 We need to find someone who will swell up the people like a revival is going on.
00:47:46 Claudette is 15.
00:47:47 She's just a child.
00:47:48 Claudette's not the one.
00:47:50 Well, I'm going home.
00:47:52 You can give me a ride.
00:47:53 All right.
00:47:54 Good night.
00:47:55 Oh, and Rosa?
00:47:56 Yes.
00:47:57 Don't stay too late, because I don't want your husband getting mad at me.
00:48:01 Parks understands that I enjoy my work.
00:48:03 But Lord knows a woman don't need to be nowhere but home and in the kitchen.
00:48:08 Then I cannot be here typing all your letters on this underwood or organizing your lecture calendar or answering all your mail without pay.
00:48:17 Well, I need a secretary.
00:48:22 And you're a good one.
00:48:24 Thank you.
00:48:27 Good night.
00:48:28 Good night.
00:48:29 Joanne, you coming with me?
00:48:39 Give me the bus cases.
00:48:48 It's always the buses.
00:49:08 Hello.
00:49:09 May I help you?
00:49:10 I'm looking for Mr. Nixon.
00:49:12 Oh, I'm afraid he's gone for the day.
00:49:14 Is there something I can do for you?
00:49:17 It's my boy.
00:49:20 Elijah.
00:49:23 He needs help.
00:49:32 All right, all right.
00:49:34 Just take your time.
00:49:38 I knew what we was doing.
00:49:40 Been going on since last summer.
00:49:44 Ever since I started delivering things to Sarah's house.
00:49:49 Since we was kids we played together.
00:49:55 So you were in her house?
00:50:00 Yes.
00:50:05 Neighbor peeped in the bedroom window.
00:50:08 Sarah said I busted in and forced myself on her.
00:50:13 But I didn't do what they said, Miss Parks.
00:50:15 May I help you?
00:50:20 I believe you, Elijah.
00:50:24 I believe you.
00:50:28 Say you gonna give me electric chair.
00:50:30 No.
00:50:31 Not if we can help it.
00:50:37 But you can't help it.
00:50:39 Ain't nothing nobody can do to help me.
00:50:41 You got to have faith, Elijah.
00:50:44 I expect I ain't crying all my faith away, ma'am.
00:50:49 Police been here all the time talking about how they gonna watch me fry.
00:51:01 You said just like that, you gonna fry, nigga.
00:51:30 That young man did not rape that girl.
00:51:33 Maybe not, but you going down to that jail didn't help him.
00:51:36 Well, somebody had to do something.
00:51:39 And what is it that you did besides give him false hope?
00:51:44 I did not even do that.
00:51:48 I never felt so helpless.
00:51:54 I knew this was gonna happen to me, Dad.
00:51:57 These graveyards are filled with innocent black boys, Rosa.
00:52:03 There's also quite a few innocent black girls and men and women.
00:52:07 Well, I never sat across from any of the others.
00:52:09 I saw the fear and the helplessness in their eyes.
00:52:12 I do not know them.
00:52:13 And you don't know this one.
00:52:16 Rosa, baby, this boy was caught in bed with a white girl.
00:52:22 His mom ought to give thanks that the police got to him before the Klan did.
00:52:28 So is it better to fry than to be lynched?
00:52:33 You know what I'm saying.
00:52:34 What if he were our son, Hawks?
00:52:37 How thankful would we be then?
00:52:42 If he was my son, what would've gone on between him and that girl never would've happened.
00:52:47 You don't know that, Hawks.
00:52:48 Oh, but I do.
00:52:50 'Cause I'd have made damn sure that he knew how the South worked.
00:53:03 Remember, whatever happens, you do not become angry or rude.
00:53:09 Just do what we came here to do.
00:53:14 There you go.
00:53:22 I'd like to check out a book, please.
00:53:26 The procedure is that you go to the colored branch in your neighborhood.
00:53:30 Check out the book there.
00:53:31 I went, but they didn't have what I need.
00:53:34 They hardly ever have what I need.
00:53:37 That may be, but you can't check books out here.
00:53:40 Why not?
00:53:41 They just checked out books.
00:53:44 You must put in a request at your own branch to have the book sent to you.
00:53:49 That takes too long.
00:53:51 By the time you send it, I won't need it anymore.
00:53:54 Well, I can't help that.
00:53:57 Your procedure is unjust and insulting to anyone who knows right from wrong.
00:54:07 I'd like to check out a book, please.
00:54:14 [whispering]
00:54:37 [sighs]
00:54:44 It's--it's tonight.
00:54:48 I know.
00:54:52 I got to kill my poor Mrs. Parks.
00:55:14 [whispering]
00:55:38 [music]
00:55:45 What will my lady be wearing this Christmas?
00:55:49 [chatter]
00:55:53 Come this winter, come let everything that's far more than shy.
00:56:02 [chatter]
00:56:08 I usually shop in New York or Atlanta.
00:56:12 I come here because of you, Rosie.
00:56:15 You are the best in this town.
00:56:18 Thank you, Mrs. Rowe.
00:56:20 I enjoy my work.
00:56:26 Rosie, can you come in early tomorrow morning?
00:56:29 Christmas has a swamp.
00:56:31 Yes, Mr. Bradley.
00:56:33 I can use the hours.
00:56:34 Good.
00:56:35 And be here at 8?
00:56:36 Yes.
00:56:38 Hey there.
00:56:39 Is this a shoe size on this piece of paper?
00:56:42 I want to try on shoes, too.
00:56:45 My feet are glowing.
00:56:46 They're green.
00:56:48 I want to try on shoes.
00:56:51 Mama?
00:56:52 Now, hush, baby.
00:56:53 You know you can't try on shoes.
00:56:55 That's why we traced your foot at home.
00:57:06 Can I help you?
00:57:11 She's getting new shoes today.
00:57:13 Why is she making a copy of her feet?
00:57:16 You ain't never had no new shoes before.
00:57:19 Colourfuls can't try on things at the store.
00:57:25 All right.
00:57:26 Let me see what I can do.
00:57:27 [chatter]
00:57:56 Let me have those front seats.
00:58:22 You better make a ladder on yourselves and let me have those seats.
00:58:51 Are you going to move?
00:58:58 No.
00:59:01 If you don't give me that seat, I'm going to have you arrested.
00:59:06 You may do that.
00:59:09 [chatter]
00:59:31 Dispatch, driver James Blake.
00:59:33 Listen, I got a coloured woman on my bus in violation of the law.
00:59:37 Did you warn her, Jim?
00:59:43 Yes, sir, I warned her.
00:59:45 Well, then, you just do it.
00:59:47 You got exercise your powers and the water off.
00:59:49 All right, now.
00:59:50 I'm going to need police backup.
00:59:52 [chatter]
01:00:09 Grandpa, I think I hate white people.
01:00:12 The only thing you need to remember is that you're as good as anybody else.
01:00:16 White, black or green with stripes.
01:00:19 Don't ever be afraid of what can happen to you.
01:00:22 If you're fighting for what's right, as long as you keep that with you,
01:00:27 then hate will be a word for other people.
01:00:49 [chatter]
01:01:01 She's sitting in the column section.
01:01:11 I needed that seat and she wouldn't move.
01:01:16 I want her arrested.
01:01:18 Why won't you stand up?
01:01:21 Why do you all push us around?
01:01:25 Will you listen to them?
01:01:29 The law is the law.
01:01:33 Maybe you're under arrest.
01:01:55 [chatter]
01:02:17 I would like to make a telephone call, please.
01:02:21 You have my glasses.
01:02:25 Look straight ahead.
01:02:37 Run to parks, follow me.
01:02:51 I need to use the telephone.
01:03:05 Elaine, you're the fanciest woman.
01:03:11 You just come from church?
01:03:16 Hello.
01:03:18 Good evening.
01:03:21 Sir, can we get some cigarettes?
01:03:43 Miss Leo.
01:03:44 Good evening, Mr. Nixon.
01:03:46 How are you doing this evening?
01:03:47 I'm doing fine.
01:03:51 I'm just trying to get some time for a fast Christmas cookie.
01:03:55 No, I couldn't.
01:03:56 Thank you.
01:03:57 God, you're perfect.
01:03:58 No, really.
01:04:01 Rosa's been arrested.
01:04:06 No.
01:04:07 It's going to be all right.
01:04:08 Just calm down.
01:04:09 What happened?
01:04:11 Word's all over town.
01:04:14 Did they beat her?
01:04:17 We don't know anything yet.
01:04:18 Oh, Lord have mercy.
01:04:20 Just park.
01:04:27 Montgomery police, give me the desk sergeant.
01:04:30 Get out.
01:04:34 Yes, this is Ed Nixon, president Montgomery NAACP.
01:04:40 And you've got one of our members down.
01:04:44 Son of a bitch.
01:04:49 [phone ringing]
01:04:58 Hello?
01:04:59 Yes, Mr. Nixon.
01:05:03 Clifford.
01:05:06 It's Mr. Nixon.
01:05:07 The police have arrested Rosa Parks and they won't give him any information.
01:05:11 What happened?
01:05:14 When?
01:05:17 Okay, I'll try and then I'm on my way.
01:05:28 This is Clifford Durr.
01:05:31 Attorney Clifford Durr, sergeant.
01:05:34 Pray to them for confidence.
01:05:37 Okay, ladies, let's break it up in there.
01:05:42 Rosa Parks, let's go.
01:05:45 Everything will be all right.
01:05:54 Rosa.
01:05:55 Rosa.
01:05:57 It's going to be all right.
01:05:59 Thanks for everything.
01:06:00 It'll be all right.
01:06:03 Don't worry now.
01:06:09 We can't afford no big fine.
01:06:11 Whatever it is, we just have to find a way to pay it.
01:06:14 Rosa's not going back to jail.
01:06:16 When's the court date?
01:06:17 Monday.
01:06:18 And don't worry, there's no way in hell we're going to let Rosa go back to jail.
01:06:22 No, she shouldn't have been in there in the first place.
01:06:24 [phone ringing]
01:06:25 Pause.
01:06:26 I'm sorry, Rosa, but I'm not hiding how I feel.
01:06:29 You and that group of yours are just as responsible for her being arrested.
01:06:36 Hello?
01:06:37 This is Johnny.
01:06:38 Rosa's arrest has upset all the colored folks in Montgomery.
01:06:41 Now, you remember Joanne Robinson.
01:06:43 Well, she has a group of her students printing leaflets right now.
01:06:47 They want to boycott the buses.
01:06:50 Yeah, Johnny?
01:06:51 They're organizing a meeting.
01:06:53 Uh-huh.
01:06:54 With the new minister.
01:06:55 When?
01:06:56 Tomorrow morning at Dexter Avenue Church.
01:06:59 All right.
01:07:00 There's a meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning at Dexter Avenue Church.
01:07:10 For what?
01:07:11 It's about you and your stand on the bus.
01:07:15 Our ministers have the phones buzzing all over town.
01:07:19 They want you at the meeting.
01:07:22 And, well, if you can't make it, they'll understand.
01:07:27 Dexter Avenue Church?
01:07:30 The one with the new ministers?
01:07:32 That's the one.
01:07:33 I'm out of here.
01:07:36 I better be going.
01:07:40 Mr. Parks, if you think we put Rosa up to this, you don't know your wife real well.
01:07:47 If anything, she's the one leading us.
01:07:54 Hey, Mark.
01:07:57 I'm going to fix you something.
01:07:59 You must be stoned.
01:08:06 You cannot really believe that they asked me to do this?
01:08:11 My wife was in jail.
01:08:14 I did not ask to be arrested, Parks.
01:08:17 All I wanted was what everybody else on that bus wanted, to go home.
01:08:21 And I do not need Nixon, the NAACP, or anybody else to tell me that I have a right to my dignity when I'm taking that 10-cent ride.
01:08:40 Now, I want to know is, what are we going to do about this here arrest?
01:08:45 Well, we need to talk about it.
01:08:47 Everybody listen.
01:08:49 This is what we're going to do.
01:08:50 I say we stop riding their buses.
01:08:53 They don't treat us with respect.
01:08:54 They don't deserve our business.
01:08:56 We're going to stop riding the buses.
01:08:58 Just like that?
01:08:59 Just like that.
01:09:00 For one whole day.
01:09:01 It's a moment we've all been waiting for.
01:09:03 Rosa Parks here is a good citizen.
01:09:05 We have got to take a stand.
01:09:07 I say we stop riding the buses Monday, the day of Rosa's trial.
01:09:12 [arguing]
01:09:20 If Montgomery is like most cities in the South, colored folk make up the majority of the riders.
01:09:25 That's right.
01:09:26 We hit them crackers with her.
01:09:30 The cash box.
01:09:31 Boycott is illegal.
01:09:34 And we'll call it a protest.
01:09:35 Is that all right with you?
01:09:36 Yes.
01:09:37 Y'all know there's bound to be some retaliation.
01:09:40 Now let's just start off first by sending a letter.
01:09:44 Letters?
01:09:45 Letters.
01:09:46 We're talking about one day off the buses.
01:09:48 And one day is all they need to feel like they can put us back in our place.
01:09:52 Our place is not looking up at them from our knees.
01:09:56 Amen.
01:09:57 You can tell even a lap dog gets tired of being kicked.
01:10:00 Now Mrs. Parks has given us her courage, a golden opportunity.
01:10:05 Are we going to be cowards and just let it go?
01:10:08 No.
01:10:09 Now you don't talk to me like that.
01:10:11 I'm a grown man.
01:10:12 Well stand up like one, Reverend.
01:10:14 Well I'm standing up like one.
01:10:16 [arguing]
01:10:21 Let Reverend King speak.
01:10:22 Let the Reverend speak.
01:10:23 Reverend King, if a protest against the buses is going to work, it's critical that we be together.
01:10:29 That's right.
01:10:30 Divisiveness is the sure path to failure.
01:10:33 And that's what we're doing right now.
01:10:35 [arguing]
01:10:37 The charge was disorderly conduct.
01:10:43 You don't think that's going to be a problem?
01:10:45 Mrs. Parks was not disorderly.
01:10:47 She did not resist or in any way get belligerent with the arresting officers.
01:10:50 Plus there's a law that says that a colored person doesn't have to give up their seat to a white.
01:10:55 They're seated in the colored section and there's no other seats open.
01:10:58 Well I didn't know that.
01:11:00 You and every other Negro in Montgomery, bottom line is that bus was filled.
01:11:05 You were within your lawful right not to get out.
01:11:07 Just get her off.
01:11:09 Look over there at the bus stop.
01:11:12 [laughing]
01:11:14 [arguing]
01:11:17 [laughing]
01:11:18 You listen to expect everybody would walk.
01:11:20 A lot of folks just live too far.
01:11:22 Y'all get in on the bus or not?
01:11:29 I ain't getting on until Jim Crow gets off.
01:11:32 Sweet maker. It's going to be a good day.
01:11:42 The bus is naked to Jaybird.
01:11:44 Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help you God?
01:11:52 I do.
01:11:54 Miss Wycliffe, where were you approximately 7pm on the evening of December 1st, 1955?
01:12:00 I was riding the bus. I got on at the Court Square bus stop.
01:12:04 And did you see the arrest of the Parks woman?
01:12:07 I saw it as clearly as I see you.
01:12:10 At the time of her altercation with the driver, Mr. Blake,
01:12:14 were there any empty seats in the colored section of that bus?
01:12:17 There were plenty of empty seats.
01:12:22 That's a lie!
01:12:24 I'll have order in my court.
01:12:27 Hey Parks.
01:12:40 Hey Donnie.
01:12:41 Are you all ready?
01:12:42 Yeah.
01:12:43 Oh, Miss Leona, look at that pretty tree.
01:12:46 That's Rosie's hand in it.
01:12:48 Oh, Rosie. All the folks are out there. They're all up.
01:12:52 Aren't you all going?
01:12:54 Going where?
01:12:55 The whole street church. There's a mass meeting called.
01:12:58 About what?
01:12:59 The protest.
01:13:01 I think they're going to continue it and they want to know if you're coming.
01:13:04 What do they need with Rosie?
01:13:06 Well, I think, I guess they thought it would be good if she was there.
01:13:10 Well, good for who?
01:13:12 Well, if you're all going, you better come on, hurry up.
01:13:17 Now look, half the colored folk in all Montgomery are talking about this meeting.
01:13:21 This is an important meeting. Come on with me, Miss Leona.
01:13:23 I'm telling you, this is it. This is an important meeting.
01:13:27 Get it right up, Rosie.
01:13:29 Parks.
01:13:38 They're using you, Rosie. Can't you see it?
01:13:40 Yes, I do see it. And I don't mind.
01:13:43 Well, I mind. I mind them using my wife.
01:13:46 You're not Harriet Tubman, dammit.
01:13:48 No, I'm only Rosa Parks.
01:13:51 And I am your wife.
01:13:53 So if you do not want me to go to this meeting, I won't.
01:13:59 You go on.
01:14:03 Do what you want to do.
01:14:08 [chanting]
01:14:24 [chanting]
01:14:42 Okay, Sister Parks, ladies and gentlemen, the heroine of our finest hour, Mrs. Rosa Parks.
01:14:52 [applause]
01:15:15 Just the other day, just last Thursday to be exact,
01:15:20 one of Montgomery's finest citizens,
01:15:23 not one of the finest Negro citizens, but one of the finest citizens in Montgomery,
01:15:29 was taken from a bus and carried to jail and arrested because she refused to give up a seat to a white person.
01:15:37 And since it had to happen, I'm so happy it happened to a person like Mrs. Rosa Parks.
01:15:44 Nobody can doubt the boundless outreach of her integrity, the height of her character,
01:15:50 or the depth of her Christian commitment to the teachings of Jesus.
01:15:55 We're going to work with grim and firm determination to gain justice in this city.
01:16:02 And we're not wrong. If we're wrong, the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong.
01:16:10 If we're wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong.
01:16:16 If we're wrong, God Almighty is wrong.
01:16:20 If we're wrong, justice is a lie.
01:16:24 And we are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until justice runs down like water,
01:16:31 and justice is like a mighty ship.
01:16:34 [applause]
01:16:53 Rosa.
01:16:55 Yes, Mr. Bradley.
01:16:57 Your position has been eliminated, Rosa. I'm sorry.
01:17:02 Business is down and--
01:17:04 Down? But this is as busy as it gets all year.
01:17:09 Not if your boycott continues.
01:17:12 You'll pay through last week.
01:17:18 [indistinct chatter]
01:17:36 Help there. Throw us a pot.
01:17:39 [indistinct chatter]
01:17:53 [somber music]
01:18:21 [indistinct chatter]
01:18:33 [phone ringing]
01:18:38 [phone ringing]
01:18:43 Kick the door! Kick the door!
01:18:45 Kick it! Kick it!
01:18:47 [indistinct chatter]
01:19:02 [phone ringing]
01:19:13 [indistinct chatter]
01:19:16 [phone ringing]
01:19:19 [somber music]
01:19:42 It's me! It's me!
01:19:44 Damn it!
01:19:45 I saw him out front, so I decided to come through the back.
01:19:50 It's okay. It's okay.
01:19:57 Where's Mama?
01:19:59 The Reverend Miss Davis is gonna look after her tonight.
01:20:02 We had to board up the house for safety, Rosa.
01:20:05 We can't take much more of this.
01:20:07 We're supposed to call the police when they come like this.
01:20:11 So?
01:20:12 They never do anything about it.
01:20:15 Half them crackers under them hoods is police.
01:20:19 We're still supposed to call for the record.
01:20:23 Legal aid would help us.
01:20:26 Why are you so late?
01:20:28 I was out looking for work.
01:20:31 You lost your job?
01:20:33 He said business was down, so they had to let me go.
01:20:37 But it'll be all right. I'll find something.
01:20:39 And with your job--
01:20:41 My job?
01:20:43 You mean the job I used to have.
01:20:47 What happened?
01:20:49 Let's just say it's no secret who my wife is.
01:20:53 [phone ringing]
01:21:05 Hello?
01:21:22 No, no, no.
01:21:26 [♪♪♪]
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01:22:44 [birds chirping]
01:22:46 We got some new ones just down there.
01:22:49 [birds chirping]
01:22:52 [indistinct chatter]
01:22:55 [indistinct chatter]
01:23:00 [indistinct chatter]
01:23:03 What time is the next carpool?
01:23:06 Might as well look at your watch and pick a number.
01:23:09 It's just as good as the schedule.
01:23:11 If you don't want to wait, you can catch the city bus.
01:23:14 It ought to be by direct.
01:23:16 Yeah, well, I just might do that.
01:23:19 [birds chirping]
01:23:27 One of my customers from the store, Mrs. Rahmer,
01:23:30 says she might have some more work for us when this is finished.
01:23:34 Well, bless Mrs. Rahmer's heart.
01:23:38 And Mr. Rahmer, too, looking the other way.
01:23:41 [chuckles]
01:23:43 [birds chirping]
01:23:50 Foxy?
01:23:53 Haven't seen him since early this morning.
01:23:56 [birds chirping]
01:24:23 Come on, baby.
01:24:25 You been losing him, Mama?
01:24:27 No, Rosie.
01:24:29 Raymond loves you.
01:24:31 I know he does.
01:24:33 That is why it hurts to see him like this.
01:24:36 Things is hard for everybody these days, Rosie.
01:24:40 But it's my fault.
01:24:42 It's not your fault.
01:24:43 Yes, it is.
01:24:45 I was the one who sat on that bus.
01:24:48 I was the one who dared that driver to deal with me.
01:24:52 And he did, so here we are.
01:24:58 Are you trying to tell me that you'll take it all back?
01:25:04 Yes.
01:25:06 [sniffles]
01:25:10 No.
01:25:16 I don't know.
01:25:19 You do know.
01:25:22 You know.
01:25:24 And knowing what you do now,
01:25:26 you would still do exactly the same thing
01:25:30 because you can't help yourself.
01:25:33 You would do it because that's who you are, Rosie.
01:25:40 Thank God.
01:25:43 I thank God, Rosie, that you are.
01:25:47 I love you, baby.
01:25:50 This protest ain't doing nothing for jibing folk.
01:25:53 Jibing folk ain't thinking something's going to change.
01:25:56 Ain't nothing going to change.
01:25:58 Because Mr. Charlie ain't no closer to treating colored folk
01:26:01 right on them buses now than when that lady started this mess.
01:26:05 Somebody had to do something.
01:26:07 Yeah, well, I'm tired of it.
01:26:09 I'm tired of it too, son.
01:26:11 See that?
01:26:12 Just ain't me.
01:26:14 These feet long, oh, I done seen
01:26:19 more miles in red sand than you ain't ever been.
01:26:23 Yeah, well, I done myself walking.
01:26:26 My soul is weary, son,
01:26:30 weary of being treated like less than a man.
01:26:38 Yeah, old man, I know what you mean.
01:26:42 You don't know what I mean, boy,
01:26:45 and you don't know what that lady was saying on that bus.
01:26:49 But I know what she was saying.
01:26:53 So I'm going to keep on a-walking as long as I have to
01:26:58 because these feet may be tired,
01:27:02 but my soul is rested.
01:27:07 [chatter]
01:27:12 [bus engine]
01:27:17 [bus engine]
01:27:22 [bus engine]
01:27:27 [bus engine]
01:27:30 Hey, old man, you're in a copy with this?
01:27:33 [chatter]
01:27:37 All right.
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01:32:49 For most of us alive today, in a very real sense, this journey began
01:32:54 43 years ago, when a woman named Rosa Parks sat down on a bus in Alabama
01:33:02 and wouldn't get up. She's sitting down with the First Lady tonight,
01:33:07 and she may get up or not as she chooses.
01:33:10 [applause]
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