Three pages of notes, handwritten by mother of the American freedom movement, Rosa Parks, are to auction online on April 28.
Detailing Parks' pivotal role in the Alabama bus boycott, as well as her meeting with leader of the black civil rights movement Dr Martin Luther King, the documents are reported to have come from a long-time friend and legal advisor to Parks.
 Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a bus. Her actions inspired the Montgomery bus boycott, which culminated in legal reform |
Parks writes: "I also find it hard to work up sympathy for the bus company. Three times I have gotten off the bus as I could not countenance the treatment of Negroes. I should have gotten off on several occasions.
"Twice I have heard a certain driver with high seniority mutter quite audibly 'black ape'. I could not tell whether the Negro heard it or not, but I did and I felt quite insulted."
 Parks' hand-written notes |
On December 1, 1955, Parks famously refused to obey bus driver James F Blake's order that she give up her seat in the "coloured" section to a white, male passenger.
Parks' act of defiance, and the Montgomery bus boycott it sparked, became symbolic of resistance against racial segregation.
As a direct result of Parks' actions, segregated buses were declared unconstitutional in December 1956.
The handwritten notes are to be sold through Auction Cause, with profits shared with the African Millennium Foundation.
Estimates are yet to be released.
We currently have this remarkable Martin Luther King autographed programme in stock.
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