Raymond Parks (activist)
American civil rights activist, husband of Rosa Parks (1903–1977)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Raymond Arthur Parks (February 12, 1903 – August 19, 1977) was an American activist in the civil rights movement and barber, best known as the husband of Rosa Parks.[1][2] His wife called him "the first real activist I ever met.”[3]
February 12, 1903
Raymond Parks | |
|---|---|
Raymond Parks in 1933 | |
| Born | Raymond Arthur Parks February 12, 1903 Wedowee, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | August 19, 1977 (aged 74) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
Resting place | Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit |
| Occupations | Civil rights activist, barber |
| Movement | Civil Rights Movement |
| Spouse | |
Life and work
Parks was born in 1903 in Wedowee, Alabama, the son of David Parks and Geri Culbertson. He did not receive a formal education as there was no nearby black school where he lived.[1] He taught himself to read with the help of his mother and had an appreciation for poetry.[4] Parks spent much of his childhood caring for ill family members and was orphaned as a teenager.[1]
Parks worked as a barber in Tuskegee, Montgomery, Maxwell Air Force Base, Hampton, Virginia, and Detroit, Michigan.[5][6][7]
Civil rights activism
Parks was politically active, a member of the League of Women Voters, and active member of the NAACP.[8][9] He was involved in leading the national pledge drive in support of the legal defense of the Scottsboro Boys, a group of nine young Black men falsely accused of raping two White women.[10][11] Parks was also a charter member of the Montgomery NAACP and was heavily involved in the Montgomery labor rights movement, supporting efforts to unionize day laborers in the city.[12][6]
Due to his wife's notable involvement in the Montgomery bus boycott, Parks lost his job as a barber at Maxwell Air Force Base[13] after his boss forbade him to talk about his wife or the legal case.[14]
Personal life
Death
Parks died of throat cancer on August 19, 1977, aged 74.[1]
Legacy
In February 1987, the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development was established.[4] Parks' Barber License is in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress.[5] In 2021, the Rosa and Raymond Parks Flat in Detroit (where they lived from 1961 to 1988) was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[20]
In popular culture
Parks is portrayed by Peter Francis James in the 2002 film, The Rosa Parks Story.[21] He is portrayed by David Rubin in the 2018 Doctor Who episode, Rosa.[22] In the 2018 film, Behind the Movement, Parks is portrayed by Roger Guenveur Smith.