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Rosa Parks' history reminds us how activists need other activists. In speeches during the boycott, she referenced “Reading histories of others—Crispus Attucks .. ...Phyllis Wheatley, Sojourner Truth,Harriet Tubman, Mary McLeod Bethune...courage to stand by conviction.” 
Rosa Parks is mentored by Ella Baker & Septima Clark. Her sense of agency as a woman activist is nurtured by an NAACP workshop Baker organizes in 1945. Clark leads workshop Parks attends at Highlander in 1955. Parks is awed by Clark's "calm" while she felt "anxious and bitter."
Rosa Parks meets Malcolm X in 1963. He's inspired by her courage & wants to meet her. They meet 3 times; she calls him her personal hero. A longtime SNCC supporter, she travels to Lowndes County to support SNCC's movement there in 1966; Stokely Carmichael calls her his "hero."
Four months after being released from prison, Nelson Mandela came to the US to promote divestment. He walked off the plane in Detroit and saw Rosa Parks. Ignoring all the dignitaries, he strode toward her chanting "Rosa Parks! Rosa Parks!" The two freedom fighters embraced.
