Jeanne Theoharis has recently published the definitive biography of Rosa Parks. In this edition of the Campbell Conversations, the Brooklyn College Professor counters the many myths held by the public about Parks's life--describing for example the long history of activism and organizing prior to her famous act of civil disobedience, and her affinity for the black power movement and Malcolm X.
The Rosa Parks that Theoharis discovered in writing the book emerged as even more courageous and powerful than she had assumed she'd find going into the project.