Rating: 
Summary: Excellent, inspirational telling of an American Icon's story
Review: Douglas Brinkley brings out the essence of Rosa Parks' humanity and her role in the Civil Rights movement. This short, highly-readable book provides useful background on Mrs. Parks' parents, early childhood, and introduction to the NAACP.The impact of Rosa Parks' actions on her family and friends was among the most revealing aspects of the book. The web of support, before and after her refusal to give up her seat, is truly inspirational. The author explores in detail the involvement of Mrs. Parks in the NAACP, church groups, and other activist organizations during the early-to-mid '50s. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s first national exposure in the movement is interesting for those not having read "Parting the Water..." and other such works. Douglas Brinkley's telling of the Rosa Parks story is not the first - and certainly not the last - but is the best!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, inspirational telling of an American Icon's story
Review: Douglas Brinkley brings out the essence of Rosa Parks' humanity and her role in the Civil Rights movement. This short, highly-readable book provides useful background on Mrs. Parks' parents, early childhood, and introduction to the NAACP. The impact of Rosa Parks' actions on her family and friends was among the most revealing aspects of the book. The web of support, before and after her refusal to give up her seat, is truly inspirational. The author explores in detail the involvement of Mrs. Parks in the NAACP, church groups, and other activist organizations during the early-to-mid '50s. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s first national exposure in the movement is interesting for those not having read "Parting the Water..." and other such works. Douglas Brinkley's telling of the Rosa Parks story is not the first - and certainly not the last - but is the best!
Rating:
Summary: Why do you keep pushing us around?
Review: Every American should know the story of Rosa Parks and all the people who helped dismantle Jim Crow and raise the dignity of all Americans. This is a fascinating and enlightening book that would serve well to be a part of every American's library. Despite its modest size it packs plenty of details most likely not part of the familar Rosa Parks lore. For instance, the bus driver James Blake had previously had a run in with her 12 years earlier and had since become a person she avoided. Also she had attended non violence resistance workshops at a School in Tennesee before her arrest. That her father had left when she was a child and that her husband was a barber who later had a drinking problem. These details give us insight to the human being Rosa Parks was and is today. The most important thing I got from this book is that courage, intelligence and hard work of many people are required to change society for the better.
Rating:
Summary: small volume packs a punch
Review: For those of us who have not experienced the segregated South of the early 50's, this slim volume paints a vivid picture of what life was like for Rosa Parks. Thorough research gives us a rich picture of the influences of the people and forces in her life. Far from being a tired seamstress, it portrays Mrs. Parks as a bright and inquisitive woman, willing to risk everything for what she believed. Disappointments and disillusionment are also chronicled, but we never lose sight of her essential strength.
Rating:
Summary: small volume packs a punch
Review: For those of us who have not experienced the segregated South of the early 50's, this slim volume paints a vivid picture of what life was like for Rosa Parks. Thorough research gives us a rich picture of the influences of the people and forces in her life. Far from being a tired seamstress, it portrays Mrs. Parks as a bright and inquisitive woman, willing to risk everything for what she believed. Disappointments and disillusionment are also chronicled, but we never lose sight of her essential strength.
Rating:
Summary: UNAPPRECIATED ACTIVIST
Review: Rosa Parks is a name we should know. As an icon of the civil rights movement, her legendary refusal to give up her seat on the segregated bus started one of the greatest revolutions since the Civil War. Many of us a familiar with this non-assuming woman who was the catalyst in inspiring the careers of Martin Luther King, Jr. and other famous civil rights activists. We are comfortable with the image of the mild mannered Christian woman who always stayed in the background. Ah, but just how much do we really know about Rosa Parks except for the myth created? Are we really appreciative and aware of this woman who has been ignored only to be thought of again when politically expedient for others? Douglas Brinkley, in this short concise biography, removes the shroud of obscurity and myth about Rosa Parks. For the first time we are shown that the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement" was more militant than we suspect. A highly intelligent and organized person, Mrs. Parks was an activist long before her famous bus ride and was very informed about what was going on in the movement locally as well as globally. The Rosa Parks presented in this text had a great aura of spirituality, strength and dignity that exuded calm during a period of unrest. Misunderstood by her peers and her friends Rosa Parks emerged as the underlying spirit that enabled the movement to begin its course of action. We learn about the Rosa Parks who was a quiet young woman but had a fierce anger against injustice. She stayed an activist throughout her life inspite of the personal hardships in her marriage and with her mother.She is a woman of great spiritual strength and power. Brinkley presents us with a portrait of a woman that we never knew and have come to rediscover.
Rating:
Summary: An Essential American Biography
Review: The most recent in the highly-praised "Penguin Lives" series, Douglas Brinkley's brilliant portrait of Rosa Parks is an example of biography at its best. Brinkley's breathtaking research and literary skill are combined in this book to produce a narrative that not only vividly paints the story of Rosa Parks' life, but that also illuminates the complexities of the Civil Rights Movement of which she was an important part. Beginning with her youth in Tuskegee, Alabama, Brinkley adroitly weaves together the details from Rosa Parks' life which shaped her character and her values. In elegant prose, he depicts the path that led to the legendary day in 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to move from her seat on a segregated bus; he then leads the reader through the journey of the Montgomery bus boycott and the half century Ms. Parks has lived since. This slim biography manages to trace the significance of figures from Booker T. Washington, to Martin Luther King, Jr., to Nelson Mandela in Rosa Parks' experience without ever losing focus on Ms. Parks herself. It compellingly shows that Parks' religious faith and her unwavering strength of character are essential keys to understanding her life and worldview. Brinkley's "Rosa Parks", however, is not a mere hagiography of an American heroine. The rare interviews that the author obtained from Rosa Parks and the extensive research that he unearthed throughout Alabama and Detroit, where Ms.Parks has lived for many years, provide the foundation for a biography that contains both individual depth and historical breadth. This beautifully written book is certain to become a classic for lay readers and scholars alike.
Rating:
Summary: Why do you keep pushing us around?
Review: The preceding reviewers of this little book sum the whole darn thing up nicely. So I thought I'd pipe up to say YES! I wholeheartedly agree that this is a delightful book. It, in fact, has inspired me to embark upon what is becomming a "phase" of reading on the subject of the African-American experience. I even went so far as to walk the African-American Freedom Trail (a National Park) in Boston, MA while I was here on business! This is the stuff that public school educations SHOULD be made of. P.S. I can't wait to get my hands on the Penguin Lives book on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..
Rating:
Summary: I concur.
Review: The preceding reviewers of this little book sum the whole darn thing up nicely. So I thought I'd pipe up to say YES! I wholeheartedly agree that this is a delightful book. It, in fact, has inspired me to embark upon what is becomming a "phase" of reading on the subject of the African-American experience. I even went so far as to walk the African-American Freedom Trail (a National Park) in Boston, MA while I was here on business! This is the stuff that public school educations SHOULD be made of. P.S. I can't wait to get my hands on the Penguin Lives book on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..
Rating: 
Summary: Satisfying and Inspirational
Review: This biography of Rosa Parks presents a very well balanced, fair description of its subject. Regrettably, as with Martin Luther King Jr., social activists and historians have all too often exalted the heroes of the Civil Rights movement beyond the bounds of human existence. This deification is both degrading and unfair, as it not only deprives our heroes of the right to live - and die - as normal human beings, but it also places many of them out of reach - discouraging many to whom them would otherwise serve as excellent role models. In refreshing contrast to that destructive tendency, this book does an excellent job of peeling back the aura around Rosa Parks and depicting her as the simple, virtuous woman that she is. Brinkley's depiction of her is refreshingly human and honest, and he does a magnificent job of describing her in the simple, straightforward way that so characterizes her. Also worthy of note is Brinkley's willingness to include so many of Rosa Park's circle of acquaintances in his narrative. From her hard-drinking yet loyal husband to people who have met her only briefly, he touches on their influences on her life, their reaction to her, and what they all mean within the greater scope of her place in our history and society. Regrettably, whites - with a few notable exceptions - are seen as oppressive, racist boors with a permanent vendetta. Even at that time, that was not true. Overall, this book is an excellent, enjoyable, and enlightening read - and one that does refreshing justice to the woman and warrior that Rosa Parks is.<P...
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