Rosa Parks was motivated by her longstanding resistance to racial segregation and injustice in Montgomery, Alabama. After years of observing systemic discrimination, she felt compelled to take a stand on December 1, 1955, when she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. Parks cited her tiredness of giving in to oppression and her desire for dignity as fuel for her actions. This act of civil disobedience sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and became a significant moment in the American Civil Rights Movement, emphasizing the need for social change.