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Where is Rosa Parks' family now? 'First lady of civil rights' remembered on anniversary of iconic bus incident

Rosa Parks had no children, but her brother and his wife had 13 sons and daughters

African American Rosa Parks was detained on the evening of December 1, 1955, for defying an Alabama ordinance mandating Black passengers to give up their seats to White passengers when the bus was full. Black passengers had to take a seat towards the back of the bus as well. The Montgomery bus system was boycotted for 381 days after her incarceration, and the result was a 1956 Supreme Court ruling outlawing racial segregation on public transportation.

On February 4, 1913, Rosa McCauley was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. She married Raymond Parks in 1932, and with his support, she completed her high school education. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Montgomery Chapter was where the couple was active. Parks worked as a seamstress and held the positions of chapter secretary and, briefly, advisor to the NAACP Youth Council. Parks assisted the Voters League in helping Black people to register to vote after being denied the right to vote on at least two occasions due to her race.

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Parks had no children, but her brother, Sylvester J McCauley, and his wife had 13 sons and daughters, all of whom are still living. Most of them are locals of Michigan or Alabama. According to family members, she assisted in their upbringing, as reported by Wall Street Journal.

Sheila McCauley was Rosa Parks' eighth niece. She named her memoir 'Our Auntie Rosa: The Family of Rosa Parks Remembers Her Life and Lessons', and which covers the Civil Rights icon's public and private life. In 2013, she was included in PBS's live broadcast of the National Day of Courage, which commemorated what would have been Parks' 100th birthday.

Today, netizens pay tribute to activist Parks, who is the "first lady of civil rights and the mother of the freedom movement," and who played a vital part in the Montgomery bus embargo by refusing to give up her bus seat to a White man in Alabama.

A Twitter user wrote, "A year later all segregation laws on public transport were ended. In 1999, Rosa Parks was recognized as the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”."

Another user wrote, "On this day in 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery city bus. Today we celebrate her brave action, which sparked the modern civil rights movement, and her inspiring lifelong fight against injustice."

Another user appreciated Parks and wrote, "I love this #RosaParks shirt. Many of you know her because today in 1955 she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery Bus. But WHOA!!!! She was so much more than that one moment. I suggest you check out the documentary: The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks on
@peacock".