Raymond Parks

Raymond Arthur Parks (February 12, 1903 – August 19, 1977) was an American activist in the civil rights movement and barber, best known as the husband of Rosa Parks. His wife called him "the first real activist I ever met.”

Life and work Parks was born in 1903 in Wedowee, Alabama, the son of David Parks and Geri Culbertson. He did not receive a formal education as there was no nearby black school where he lived. Parks spent much of his childhood caring for ill family members and was orphaned as a teenager.

Civil rights activism Parks was politically active, a member of the League of Women Voters, and active member of the NAACP. He was involved in leading the national pledge drive in support of the legal defense of the Scottsboro Boys, a group of nine young Black men falsely accused of raping two White women. Parks was also a charter member of the Montgomery NAACP and was heavily involved in the Montgomery labor rights movement, supporting efforts to unionize day laborers in the city. after his boss forbade him to talk about his wife or the legal case.

Personal life On December 18, 1932, Parks married Rosa Louise McCauley, to whom he proposed after their second date. Parks encouraged his wife Rosa to finish her high school studies and become active in the civil rights movement.

Death Parks died of throat cancer on August 19, 1977, aged 74.

In popular culture Parks is portrayed by Peter Francis James in the 2002 film, The Rosa Parks Story. He is portrayed by David Rubin in the 2018 Doctor Who episode, Rosa. In the 2018 film, Behind the Movement, Parks is portrayed by Roger Guenveur Smith.