A civil rights activist, though she hadn't planned on becoming one. In the 50's, blacks in the South were supposed to sit in the back of the public transport buses. Ms Parks, tired after a long day at work, refused to relinquish her middle-of-the-bus seat to a white person - a spontaneous act of civil disobedience. The resultant furor led to the Birmingham (Alabama) bus boycott, led by a young minister, Martin Luther King.