Aquarius Season Playlist

Meet the Queen of Swords (IRL) - Rosa Parks

Civil rights legend, Rosa Parks, was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. She was a Capricorn rising, and she had a 1st House Aquarius Stellium, including her Sun, Mercury, and Uranus. She was also a Scorpio Midheaven and a 12th House Capricorn Moon. She's the perfect air/water blend to represent the Queen of Swords (IRL).

Parks' parents separated when she was a toddler, and Parks' mother moved the family to Pine Level, Alabama, to be closer to her grandparents. Parks' grandparents were formerly victims of slavery and became vocal advocates for racial equality. growing up in the segregated South, Rosa witnessed her elder relatives holding their ground throughout her childhood. She publicly noted an experience when she watched her grandfather stand on his porch with a shotgun while the KKK marched down the street.

Parks attended a segregated school in Pine Level, which routinely lacked adequate supplies. Black students were forced to walk to school, while white students had access to a school bus service. Parks left school in the 11th grade to care for sick relatives. She never returned. Instead, she ended up working in a shirt factory. She did, however, eventually earn her GED.

At 19 years old, she married Raymond Parks in 1932. He was a barber and an active member of the NAACP. Rosa also became a member of the organization in 1943. The couple never had children but dedicated their lives to the NAACP's work. Rosa served as the youth chapter leader and held secretary roles under the organization's president.

On December 1, 1955, Parks had just finished a long day working as a seamstress in a department store. While taking the bus home, she took a seat in the first several rows designated for Black passengers. As the bus continued along, it began to fill with passengers. The driver noted that a few white passengers were standing in the aisles and stopped the bus. He moved the sign which denoted the separation of Black and white passengers and demanded that four Black passengers, including Parks, give up their seats for the standing white passengers. Refusal would result in the police being called to have them removed. Three of the Black passengers complied, and Parks remained seated. The driver demanded, "Why don't you stand up?" to which Parks replied, "I don't think I should have to stand up." Parks kept her cool and held firm on her boundaries. the driver called the police and had her arrested.

This legendary event kicked off the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The president of the NAACP began planning for the demonstration the night Parks was arrested. Starting on December 5, 1955, the day of Parks' scheduled trial, people were encouraged not to utilize the bus system. The effort was a massive success, lasting longer than a year. Parks was found guilty and was fined $14 (when adjusted for inflation, it's around $150 today). But the bus boycott was the real win here. Due to the size and scope of the efforts, Montgomery had become an eyesore, with dozens of public buses sitting idle, ultimately debilitating finances for transit companies. Segregationists retaliated. Churches and homes were burned, and the NAACP's president's house was bombed. Ultimately, This boycott was a pivotal point in overturning Jim Crow laws in 1956.

After the bus boycott, Parks was a well-known civil rights symbol. However, she was suffering financial struggles after her arrest. Both she and her spouse had lost their jobs over the incident. So, the couple moved to Detroit to get a fresh start. She worked in a congressional office as a secretary and became heavily involved with Planned Parenthood. Then, In the early 2000s, Parks was diagnosed with dementia, and on October 24, 2005, she died in her Detroit apartment.

Parks received many awards during her lifetime, including the Spingarn Medal (the NAACP's highest honor) and the prestigious Martin Luther King Jr. Award. She was even named in TIME magazine's "20 Most Influential People of the 20th Century" in 1999.

Parks perfectly exhibits the Queen of Swords archetype, showing us the importance of level-headedness and boundaries. Although she has passed, her civil rights legacy lives on.