I had felt for a long time, that if I was ever told to get up so a white person could sit, that I would refuse to do so.
Rosa ParksI will no longer act on the outside in a way that contradicts the truth that I hold deeply inside. I will no longer act as if I were less than the whole person I know myself inwardly to be.
Rosa ParksI did not want to be mistreated, I did not want to be deprived of a seat that I had paid for. It was just timeโฆ there was opportunity for me to take a stand to express the way I felt about being treated in that manner. I had not planned to get arrested. I had plenty to do without having to end up in jail. But when I had to face that decision, I didn't hesitate to do so because I felt that we had endured that too long. The more we gave in, the more we complied with that kind of treatment, the more oppressive it became.
Rosa Parks