Driving Miss Rosa visually recreates the evening Rosa Parks said no to the status quo. Her act of defiance would eventually lead to the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1956.

By recreating that one evening in Rosa Parks’ life, I try to convey what life was like for Black Americans in the South during that era. I divide the evening into four segments, reflecting what Black Americans had to endure on a daily basis:

• Going Home, an everyday occurrence for countless working Americans, then and now

• Montgomery Code, the law of the land in the South at the time

• The Arrest, the consequences of breaking the law, regardless of its morality

• State of Mind, what Black Americans had to consider while going about their daily routines

Rosa was active in the civil rights movement. She was aware of the personal challenges the code presented and the atrocities that Black Americans had to continuously withstand. Her refusal to give up her seat was not the first time she said no.