Rosa Parks was honored with a new stature in downtown Montgomery, Alabama on Sunday. It was 64 years ago she was arrested for refusing to move to the back of the bus.
Sunday was the second annual Rosa Parks Day in Alabama. The legislature approved this honor Parks last year.
“Today, on the second official Rosa Parks Day, we honor a seamstress and a servant, one whose courage ran counter to her physical stature,” said Mayor Steven Reed, the city’s first African American mayor. “She was a consummate contributor to equality and did so with a quiet humility that is an example for all of us.”
“No person ever stood so tall,” Gov. Kay Ivey said, “as did Rosa Parks when she sat down.”
Rosa Parks was a major Civil Rights movement Icon after she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger in 1955. This sparked a nationwide bus boycott for 381 days. African Americans stood in solidarity with Rosa Parks and the boycott led to a Supreme Court ruling desegregating public transportation in Montgomery.
Her act of boldness and bravery led us to the rights we have now as African Americans. This statue is well deserved in honor of Rosa Parks. Although she died in 2005 at the age of 92, Rosa Parks will never be forgotten.
