Rosa Parks decided to take it upon herself to investigate into the horrific rape of Recy Taylor and as a consequence got a lot of support from the black community all over America (ch.1). The decision to pursue the cas was a pivotal one and is essential to understanding the events leading to the Civil Rights Movement because there was alot more to this great event than what we were told growing up. [[Recy Taylor Speaks| What lead to the civil Rights Movement]] [[Influence of the ice pick<-link text]] "The family didn’t know it back then, but Parks, dispatched by the Montgomery NAACP to investigate the case, was setting the gears in motion for a far-reaching campaign. “Miss Parks told me to go with her to Montgomery until things were clear,” said Taylor, who stayed for three months in a rooming house, arranged for by Parks, before returning home. “She was trying to get something done. I’m not sure what. I was young and didn’t know nothing about law and stuff like that.” Parks saw an opportunity to hold up Taylor’s story as a national example of Southern injustice. She partnered with other progressive groups — including the now mostly forgotten Southern Negro Youth Congress, the defense team of the Scottsboro Boys, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and other labor organizers, as well as communist networks — to form the Alabama Committee for Equal Justice for Mrs. Recy Taylor. The coalition became a national movement that the Chicago Defender called “the strongest campaign for equal justice to be seen in a decade,” and daily stories on the case were printed in newspapers across the nation, from Baltimore to Los Angeles." Gordy, Cynthia. "Recy Taylor: A Symbol of Jim Crow’s Forgotten Horror." http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2011/02/recy_taylor_a_symbol_of_jim_crows_forgotten_horror/ (accessed September 4,2016). [[Recy Taylor speaks]] In the early hours of the day on August 27th, 1974, Joan Little had to make a decison. Should she let this white officer has his way with her and absolutely anything includin gmaybe kill her or does she defend herself? [[Defend Yourself]] Joan Little decided to defend herself. It was hard. As she sat on the stand she told the court room what happened while she fought back tears. Little discussed how ever since came to the jail Alligood made passes towards her. She expressed she wanted to be left alone or she would tell. He did not care. He told her no one woul dbelive her if she went and told. With raw emotion and statements she continued with her storty. She said, she was in her jail cell when he decided he was ready for her. Of course she did not want the officer touching on her body making her feel disgusting. When Clarence Alligood made his advances and attempted to get Joan to "suck him" she took it upon herself to take advantage of the situtation. Once he dropped the ice pick that was in his hands she grabbed it and stabbed him and left him in the cell to die with an erection and sperm coming from his genitals. She left him like the barbarian he was. pg. 222 [[The Trial]] Once the case of Joan Little "murdering" Clarence Aligood went to court, all the whites saw was a guilty nigger girl. Nobody wanted to see self defense. They judged her on her past experience with the law. She had an extensive criminal record. They called her a jezebel becaise she had contracted syphillis from her ex-boyfriend. And of course because she was black. That was enough to lock her up and throw away the key. But Jerry Paul and Karen galloway, Little's attorneys were not going to let that happen. Paul helped make Joan more respectable in court. Also Galloway and Paul spent almost $4o thousand dollars on social experiments to see if a mixed jury was better than an all white socially biased jury? Eventually the trial was moved to the capital of North Carolina where Joan got a fair trail and lots of recognition world wide. Even from some that did not mean to give such positive feedback on such an outlandish case. pgs 204-223 [[Justice for African American Women]] Without the help from two amazing defense attorneys, all the different organizations, black and white, and even Rosa Parks, Joan would probably be dead. The police officers wanted to sentence her death via gas chamber. They fought hard to bring justice to not only Joan Little but to every African American girl, woman,sister,mother and friend that was murdered, raped, assulted and taken advantage of by a disgusting white man who somehow thought African American women's bodies belonged to them. JUSTCIE!