One of the really common
misconceptions about Rosa Parks is that she was an
uneducated worker drone who just wanted somewhere to sit on the
bus.
Rosa Parks was an active member of the NAACP long before she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat. She had attended Alabama State College but couldn't find teaching work because there were no Black high schools in the area.
She had just finished teaching a workshop on race relations at a Tennessee high school before she was arrested.
I think that it's more ironic than anything that the public relations manuever worked so well. People had no difficulty painting Rosa Parks as a working stiff and a common person who just wanted to rest her tired feet for a minute.