December 1, 1955 was a massive milestone in civil rights history. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. She was arrested and the rest is civil rights history.
On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks rejected bus driver James F. Blake’s order to vacate a row of four seats in the “colored” section in favor of a White passenger once the “white” section was filled. Parks was not the first person to resist bus segregation. Still, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) believed she was the best candidate for seeing through a court challenge after her arrest for civil disobedience in violating Alabama segregation laws. She helped inspire the Black community to boycott the Montgomery buses for over a year. The case became bogged down in the state courts. Still, the Montgomery bus lawsuit Browder v. Gayle resulted in a November 1956 decision that bus segregation is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
While sitting on the bus, she could have used mindful breathing to help stay calm. Here are some breathing exercises.