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MIGHTY TIMES - THE LEGACY OF ROSA PARKS

42 minutes,
Produced 2002 by HBO

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks sparked a revolution by refusing to give up her seat in the section of the bus reserved for whites only. Her simple act of defiance against racial segregation on city buses inspired the African American community of Montgomery, Alabama, to unite against the segregationists who ran City Hall.

Over the course of a year, the Montgomery Bus Boycott would test the endurance of the peaceful protesters, overturn an unjust law and create a legacy that continues to inspire those who work for freedom and justice today. "Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks" revisits this familiar historical event and finds new stories that introduce new heroes.

Nominated for a 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject.

A pivotal episode in Rosa Parks' life was her two-week stay at the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle,Tennessee. While the school initially focused on justice for workers in the South, racial segregation became the pervading issue for the school for several decades beginning in the early 1940s.

Many civil rights activists passed through Highlander's grounds, including Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Stokely Carmichael.

Mrs. Parks attended Highlander only months before she stood up to segregation on a Montgomery bus in December 1955. It was at Highlander where she learned about nonviolent protest and the teachings of Indian nationalist leader Mahatma Gandhi.

Now located in New Market, Tenn., the school is still training activists from all over the world, but their current focus is on poverty in Appalachia.

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