The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks

“Blind pigs” were bars where Black people could gather after late shifts when all other bars were closed. They developed in response to the difficulty Black business owners faced in getting the permits needed to open and to many bars and venues’ being closed to Black patrons. In April 1967, the police attempted to close a gathering at a blind pig that was intended to celebrate the return from Vietnam of two soldiers. The patrons refused to leave, sparking a political uprising in Detroit that covered 14 square miles at its peak. Forty-three people died, and hundreds were injured. Police offers took brutal measures against the frustrated protesters. Raymond Parks’s barbershop and his new car were vandalized and destroyed, and he suffered from another nervous breakdown. As his wife tried to drive him to the hospital, law enforcement harassed the couple.

Fred Gray represented five defendants in Browder v. Gayle, which declared the discriminatory bus laws of Montgomery, Alabama, unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that the laws were unconstitutional, an important victory for the civil rights movement, but Parks felt this landmark case was inadequate. The decision led to an increase in violence in the city, including church bombings and threats against King and Parks, that helped prompt the Parks family’s decision to move to Detroit.