Rosa Parks’s autobiography (1913–2005), a symbol of the struggle for civil rights, was published in the United States in 1992. It took 26 years for the French translation, My Story, to finally become available.
“My Story”, Rosa Parks’s autobiography translated into french
Libertalia Editions published the French translation of Rosa Parks’s autobiography in November 2018. Written in 1992 with African American journalist Jim Haskins, the testimony of the “mother of civil rights” is essential to fully understand the scope of her struggle. Her life journey, detailed in this deeply moving autobiography, powerfully illustrates the complexity of a Black woman’s political engagement. Among other things, it reveals that the image of the “tired granny” is far removed from the reality of the activist.
“People have repeated over and over that I did not give up my seat that day because I was tired, but that is not true. I was not particularly physically tired, no more than on any other day after a day of work. I was not that old, although people always imagine me as a little grandmother. I was 42 years old. But if there was one thing that truly tired me, it was bending my back.”
Moreover, long before her act of rebellion on the bus, Rosa Parks was already active within the NAACP, where she served as secretary. The American civil rights organization had filed petitions to fight segregation policies on buses—petitions that Rosa Parks herself did not sign
“For my part, I had decided that I would not go to white people with a piece of paper in my hand to ask them for any favor.”
Rosa Parks’s autobiography is therefore a testimony that restores the true history of this activist. It allows us to (re)discover a strong and determined Rosa Parks. Furthermore, My Story enables us to understand, through the eyes of a grassroots protagonist, the experiences of those forgotten by history.
