Rosa (Lee McCauley) Parks

Rosa Louise McCauley was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. She was a civil-rights activist. She refused to give the seat to the white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus which led to the city-wide boycott and end the segregation of the public facilities with the nation-wide efforts. She became the symbol of the Civil Rights Movement, but she and her husband both lost their jobs and they and her mother had to move to Detroit, Michigan to begin their new life.

Her achievements earned her the acclaim of the Spingarn Medal, the NAACP's highest award. Also she received the Martin Luther King Jr. Award. On Sep.9, 1996 President Bill Clinton awarded Rosa Parks the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given by the U.S. executive branch. In 1997, she was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award given by the U.S. legislative branch. In 1999, Time magazine named Rosa Parks one of the 20 most influential people of the twentieth century.

From the Rosa Parks ' biography, i learn that others can look down upon you, but you must respect yourself and have your own dignity to protect your own rights. America is the country of freedom, but a long time ago they had the serious racial discrimination. Sometimes i respect the black people to use their own wills and determinations to strengthen their own faiths. I could clearly remember when i first listened Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., i was deeply touched by his indignant speeches and words and millions of people were excited about their freedom. "Free at last! Free at last!Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

We are all equal when we were born, so nobody shouldn't be the slaves of others or nobody shouldn't be segregated.We must be peaceable and live harmoniously together!!!Here is the website of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech video "I Have a Dream" If you like, then you can enjoy the speech.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Keepsakes help tell African American story

Everyone has different habits to collect the varied keepsakes,because every different keepsakes have their own stories or histories meanings.They are priceless treasure which doesn't mean the monetary value .

In this article, the writer talked about a very rare white cap once worn by a Pullman Co. porter and a pin bearing the image of a black woman . In the past , they wore black or blue caps ,the porters who wore white tended only to prominent travelers in private train cars. The second treasure is the writer also learned that the face on the pin was Madame C.J Walker, whose hair care products made her the first female African American millionaire. They also mentioned that the residents in L.A. will have a chance to have experts review their keepsakes. Their aim is about the historical worth not monetary value. And also they hope the items they bring can illuminate the California dream and share the African American Treasure.

The historical heritage is priceless, we can't use money to value their worth. From them we can konw what happened before and what they looked like . They have the great infulence on us nowadays.