SACRAMENTO, Calif. — People across the country are honoring the life and legacy of Rosa Parks.
Parks was arrested Dec. 1, 1955, for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama. Even though Parks was not the first to confront the injustice of segregation laws, her courageous act of civil disobedience sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
The bus boycott started Dec. 5, 1955 and Black people refused to ride city buses for 381 days. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ordered Montgomery to integrate its bus system.
Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-AL) is pushing for the Rosa Parks Day Act. The bill would make Dec. 1 a federal holiday commemorating the arrest of Rosa Parks. On Friday, the 68th anniversary of Rosa Parks’ arrest, Sewell spoke on the House Floor to honor the Civil Rights icon.
"Rosa Parks was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996, the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999, and was the first woman to ever lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda," said Sewell. "In addition, many states, including Ohio, California, Missouri, and Oregon, already observe Rosa Parks Day at the state level. Her legacy continues to inspire new generations of Americans to advance justice and equality. Now is the time to pass this legislation and to declare December 1 as a federal holiday and as Rosa Parks Day."
When Parks inspired the bus boycott, she was the secretary for the the NAACP in Montgomery for 12 years. Parks also founded the Montgomery NAACP Youth Council in the early 1940s. In the wake of the bus boycott, Parks lost her tailoring job and received death threats. In 1957, she and her family moved to Detroit. She remained an active member of the NAACP, working to create positive changes nationwide.
Tijuana Barnes, vice president of NAACP Sacramento, says Rosa Parks deserves the recognition. Barnes explains she's personally in favor of the establishment of Rosa Parks Day as a federal holiday.
“I think of Rosa Parks as a start of a movement,” said Barnes. “She ensured that children were able to get access to the NAACP to develop their level of advocacy. We are not just an adult focused organization, but we want to make sure that we develop the minds of children.”
The Rosa Parks Bus is at The Henry Ford museum in Michigan. The museum restored the bus to its original condition. Barnes says she had the opportunity to visit the museum and sit on the bus years ago. She called it an “extremely emotional experience.”
“We have to remind people that the movement was not just a man-led movement, but it began with a woman,” said Barnes. “The civil rights movement started with Rosa Parks, but technically it has not ended and we have to make sure that we stand up for what's right and just.”
Jordan McGowan is the founder of Malcolm X Academy in Sacramento's Oak Park neighborhood. It's a full-time community homeschool serving kindergarten through eighth grade students. McGowan says students learn about Rosa Parks and other Civil Rights leaders every day.
“There are so many things that happened to her and to all of our people that specifically fight for our liberation, so we honor our ancestors by making sure our babies understand what our people are fighting for, what they sacrificed and why,” said McGowan.
McGowan wants Parks to be remembered and honored, but says one day is not enough.
“For the entirety of her life, she struggled for us to have our voices heard, for us to be seen as human and for us to be treated equally, fairly and to be free,” he said.
The Rosa Parks Day Act has the support of 114 cosponsors in the House of Representatives. Sewell says the proposed holiday would ensure Parks’ sacrifice is remembered. If approved, it would establish the first federal holiday honoring a woman.
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