For a while, I also thought she was brave and a pioneer, until I learned about Claudette Colvin, who actually did what Rosa Parks did first. Not saying Rosa wasn’t, but why does she get all the credit?
According to Claudette, “mother told me to be quiet about what I did,” Ms. Colvin recalled. “She told me: ‘Let Rosa be the one. White people aren’t going to bother Rosa — her skin is lighter than yours and they like her.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/12/01/rosa-parks-the-name-you-know-claudette-colvin-the-one-too-many-dont/
If anyone ever goes to the Henry Ford museum in Michigan, they used to have the Rosa Parks bus(as well as JFK limo and Abe Lincoln chair they were shot in) on display, which is pretty cool. That was quite a few years ago, but I believe they are still there.