A meaningful name

A meaningful name By: Maria Jose Casas, Carolina Bucheli, Gabriela Portilla & Valeria Pinto

Prologue In the 1950’s, the United States of America was divided and in conflict by the ignorance of racism, led by the asymmetry in rights and opportunities between black and white people. Due to the horrible discrimination that was happening in the South of the United States, equality became the main reason to fight, and even die for, and the main goal all African-Americans wanted to achieve some day. Many leaders decided to speak in order to change the law, reform it, and provide a better future for their children, being one of them Rosa Parks, a strong and charismatic woman. They believed that the laws following the concept of “separate but equal” were nonsense and that they should be changed for “integrated and equal”. As time went by they accomplished it, and as a sign of gratitude many coloured people decided to pay tribute to them in several ways.

These Civil Rights Activists became idols, role models, for those who wanted to follow their steps and keep changing the world for the best and for good.

Fast forward, over 60 years later, an African-American girl named Rosa Wilson

On the first day of school, I entered my classroom and met many new classmates who came from other schools. I also greeted my friends from my childhood.

That day, we also met our teacher, she was very pretty, she was tall, she had long brown hair, her clothes were very pretty, she had a very nice satchel and she was very kind to all the students.

The first activity that the teacher gave us was that we had to introduce ourselves to all our classmates and in that way we would know each other better. When all my friends passed, Miss Marie told me that it was my turn. When I stood in front of all my classmates, I was paralyzed because I was nervous but my teacher

So I started by saying that my name is Rosa. I also said that I am 10 years old and that I was born on november the 8th, that I only live with my mother since my father died because he was very ill.

Also, I said that I am very happy with the life I have. the the activity was over, Miss marie told us that she was going And finally, I When said that to leave usina task. It consisted of asking our parents why they most important person us the name that we have. The idea is to present it in the my life is my gave mother. classroom. I found this activity very interesting and very cool because, honestly, I do not know the reason why my mother gave me this name and it is something I would like to know. I wish that my mother told me the story with all the details and in that way I

so…. I arrived to my house very excited about the task that the teacher left us —hi

little baby how was your day? asked my mom when I entered the house.

I told her about the task miss Marie us, toand everyone Igave decided ask that her about mine, was and wondering she told me about the meaning of their names.

—your name was not a name that had come out of nowhere. It was actually a very important name for african american people.- And then

—You

see Rosa— she said —African-American people like us, not always had the same rights as we do nowadays. Before, we used to struggle with racial segregation,and if you are wondering what that is, it is when you discriminate someone because of the color of their skin, in this case white people didn't want black people near them.—I

can't believe it!—I said

Yes, because of it we didn't have the same jobs, we had to use different services, and we needed to be very cautious about what we were doing.

Many African- Americans died or were taken to prison for trying to fight for their rights.- She took a sip of her cranberry juice and continued — Nevertheless, things started to change when —

My mom told me — Rosa was a brave black woman who decided not to let white people abuse us. Before you were born white people did not want to interact with people of color like us, they were embarrassed of us and our culture. — So, back then coloured people couldn't have any white friends?- I said —

yes baby, I know it sounds weird but it's true.

They didn't let them use the same bathrooms, also they didn't have the same rights as they do and they couldn't use the same seats on the bus.

She contradicted the laws, and at the end she achieved the change she wanted to make.

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—

Wow, that’s amazing

It all started one sunny day, Rosa was returning to her home from work and she took a Public bus. Remember! at that time people were divided into coloured and white people. —

Rosa sat in the middle of the bus because there were only a few white people in the front of the bus.

But suddenly‌ A young white man arrived at the bus and asked Rosa to move where she belonged ( at the back part).

Rosa was quiet and didn't say anything. It was impressive!

The young man started to whine and told the bus driver about the problem and he stopped the bus and told Rosa to move to the back part. Rosa looked at him and said “I am not moving anywhere�.

Everyone started looking at her and the white man started calling the police because she was breaking the rules.

Then, she got arrested and went to prison.

Every coloured people started to know about her and her story. So the protest began!

Thanks to all the protest they made, the laws of Montgomery public transportation were abolished and they declared no more racial segregation in the buses!

Finally, as time passed, the US government declared that racial

After my mom told me the story, I felt all kinds of emotions. I could feel a mixture between joy and sadness in my heart, and when I was about to burst into tears, my mom hugged and tickled me until I laughed. Later she held my hand and said: Honey, now you understand why I named you Rosa?

To honour her?- I said while wiping a tear off of my face —

Not only to honour her, but to inspire you to be a strong woman that’s not afraid to speak, and that is always ready to fight for what is right, without any feeling of revenge or resentment, regardless of what they have done. If your actions are for good, then good things will come. And as you can see, thanks to Rosa now we are free.- I nodded, ,smiled —

“I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people. “ - Rosa Parks

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Dears, this book was beautiful and th illustrations were a great complement to the story you put together I am so proud to see how you all have evolved so much in terms of writing and general classwork.

My only objection is that you completely missed the feedback that was required and specified in the Project instruction

Great work!

9.5/10 