Ramirez 1

Leslie Ramirez
My role as a black woman
March 2,1955
Today I received a frantic phone call from my friend. As she cried, she
told me that her sixteen-year-old daughter had been arrested for refusing to
give up her seat to a white man on the bus. Her daughter, Claudette Colvin,
had done nothing wrong, she was sitting in the negro-section of the bus! I
was infuriated. This was not the first, nor last, time I had heard about
discrimination in Montgomerys buses. I myself was a victim of these
demeaning acts. A couple of months ago, I had planned to take the bus back
home after work, but things didnt go as planned. As soon as I step foot onto
the bus, the bastard bus driver told me that the bus was full and didnt have
anymore available seats. I looked into the bus and spotted at least five open
seats! I became extremely frustrated when, even after informing the bus
driver of the open seats, he refused to let me in. I told this inconsiderate ass
man about what a long day I had, and when I did so, he yanked me by the
hair and threw me out of the bus. He then proceeded on without me. I was
humiliated, all of the white people on the bus yelled out, thats what you get
for being an ugly nigger. I began to cry; I had never cried more in life than in
that moment. I was forced to walk the five miles home, feet aching and all.
I am tired of this all. We need change, I need change. I cant keep
dealing with the neglect, insults, and denial. I am as much of a woman as the
white women next to me. I work, I have kids, I bleed the same blood for god-

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sakes! We need change! The only problem is, if I speak up, who will listen?
After all I am just a black woman.

If I was a negro-man, this probably wouldnt have happened to me, but

because I am a negro-women, I am forced to deal with it. Yes, negro-men
also get kicked off buses, but most of the people who get kicked off the bus
are women. If negro-men are found weak, we are found even weaker. Thats
why, in a way, I am kind of glad Claudette stood up to the bus driver. Us
negro-women need to fight back to earn equality and overall respect from
not only whites, but also men.
August 28, 1955
Yesterday, I was cooking dinner for my family when my husband
walked in. On his way in, he slammed the door with the utmost anger. When I
asked, Honey, whats wrong?, he threw a chair and began yelling about
what a terrible day he had. He said that the bus was extremely full and that
all the Negros were forced to get out so that all the white passengers could
take their seats. The group that was kicked out had to walk up to ten miles to
get to their destination.
My husband has been known to have a very strong temper and a slight
case of being bi-polar. With this being said, he began to hit me to relieve his
frustrations, but what did I have to do with this? What hurt me most was not
that he was hitting me, but that my children had to watch their mother get
beat. They were used to seeing this. My husband often comes home angry

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and beats me. I am afraid that my children will grow up and think that
beating a woman is okay. I feel trapped, I dont know what to do. I have no
one to run to for help. Nobody cares about a black woman like me. I am
forced to deal with the violence both inside and outside my house. For me,
there is no escape.
December 1, 1955
I havent written in a while, so much has been going on. A woman that
I know was arrested on the same charges as Claudette today. Her name is
Rosa Parks. Rosa is an extremely kind and independent women. I truly felt for
her after hearing about her arrest. She does not deserve it, nobody does! We
dont do any harm to the whites around us, why do they continue to
discriminate us? Ive had enough of this, weve had enough!
A boycott is said to start tomorrow. Both black men and women will
boycott the buses until we end bus segregation. The womens political
council is arranging pick-ups so that most of us wont have to walk long
distances. I am extremely grateful for everyone contributing to this
movement because maybe my husband wont come home angry anymore,
maybe I wont get beat, and maybe I will no longer live in fear.
January 2, 1955
It has been a month since the boycott has started and nothing has
changed. My husband still comes home angry, were still not being treated
equally, and no law has been passed to end bus segregation. Ive become
extremely frustrated but there is nothing I can do. I have tried to go to the

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church meetings that the Montgomery Improvement association holds, but
most of the people there are men and educated black women. What about
the woman like me? When is our voice heard? When do we get to contribute
or at least get acknowledged? I am not just a mother. I am worth much more
than the two dollars I earn. I have a voice; it needs to be heard!
December 21, 1956
The boycott is over. It has been over a year since it first began. I am so
proud of the African-American community for sticking together throughout
the entire boycott. It was tough, there were days when I just wanted to get
on the bus so that I could get home quicker. Instead, I would wait in the cold
and sometimes hot weather for someone to pick my group up.
Although we did accomplish to integrate buses, I feel like I didnt do
anything. The only thing I felt like I was allowed to do was not ride the bus. I
tried to engage in meetings, but they would just give me the run around. The
only ones that were heard were the men. What about the womens dilemmas
and ideas, are they not as important?
August 28,1963
Today, The March on Washington for jobs and freedom took place.
Although thousands of women joined the march, we do not have the same
opportunity to obtain a job. Most of the females I know depend on their
husbands financially because nobody wants to hire black women. Instead,
they try to make money by selling food or ironing others clothes, but that
brings little to no money.

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I am one of the very few black women who obtain a job. On a good
day, I get paid two dollars, at most. On a regular day, my salary will range
from seventy-five cents to a dollar. The work is not easy. I go in at eight a.m.
and come out at five p.m. Those ten hours of work consists of all hard labor. I
work in a black diner, so I am expected to cook, clean, serve, and host. By
the end of the day, I am dead! My feet get swollen and filled with blisters
because I cant afford to buy good shoes. With the five dollars I make a week,
I have to buy groceries, do the laundry, and make sure my kids have
everything they need.
Jobs are essential for women. We cant keep depending on our
husbands for money. We need to have the opportunity to get ahead
ourselves, but how? No one ever listens to us. No jobs are available to us. We
are seen as the weaker bunch. They expect us to stay home, take care of our
children, cook and clean. I am tired of these mentalities. Us women need to
unite and create change for ourselves because who else is going to stick up
for the black women?
July 2, 1964
Today, the Civil Rights Act was passed. I am super excited about it
being passed, but also very doubtful about the effectiveness of it. The civil
rights act banned employment discrimination and ended segregation on the
basis of color, religion, sex, or national origin (The Civil Rights Act of 1964).
Although it claims all these marvelous things, the sad truth is that men will

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still be chosen over women. They are chosen over a woman, not because
they are stronger or smarter, but because they are men.
March 21, 1965
I feel like I am raising my children on my own. Their father hasnt been
around for a while now. Hell come home for a couple of days, but then leave
again to be a part of another civil rights movement. I understand that hes
out fighting for a good cause, but my children need their father. They need
his guidance and fatherly affection. It is really tough doing things on my own.
They need him, I need him. Some nights, I stay up crying and pray that my
husband will come back safe. The last march he was a part of, things went
really bad. He was brutally attacked by the police with wielding clubs and
tear gassed.
Today, he left again in a second attempt to march from Selma to
Montgomery. My children and I begged him not to go, but he insisted on
going. Although he has not been the best husband, I still love him. It breaks
my heart every time I see him go, but it is something that I am forced to deal
with.
June 1,1966
It has been almost two years since the civil rights act was enacted, but
nothing has changed for black women. The sad truth is that it probably never
will. Well always be thought of as the weaker bunch. We will never truly earn
equality. This is something that were going to have to live with. It makes me

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so angry that all of our hard work was for nothing, but I was born a black
women and change is just another one of my fantasies.

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Work cited
"The Civil Rights Act of 1964." Teaching with Documents. National
Archives, n.d. Web.
How Women Led and Won the Montgomery Bus Boycott. How
Women Led and Won the Montgomery Bus Boycott. N.p. 13 Feb. 2005.
Web. 7 Apr. 2016
Staff, History.com. "Montgomery Bus Boycott." History. A+E Networks,
2010. Web. 7 Apr. 2016.