On December 1, 1955, Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was arrested for civil disobedience for violating Alabama State segregation laws. 60 years ago today
ADVERTISEMENTOn December 1, 1955, Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was arrested for civil disobedience for violating Alabama State segregation laws.
60 years ago today | Remembering #RosaParks & her unsung sisters - https://t.co/50QxVwgl9Q via @M_Star_Onlinepic.twitter.com/mipInxAE06
— Unite the union (@unitetheunion) December 1, 2015
The events of that evening on board a Montgomery City bus led the United States Congress to call Rosa Parks “the first lady of civil rights.”
At around 6 p.m. a 42-year-old African American seamstress boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus to return home after work.
"You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right." {Rosa Parks} #quotespic.twitter.com/7PTeXlAJoW
— Susan Dolan (@GoogleExpertUK) November 22, 2015
She sat in the middle of the vehicle, a row behind the ten seats reserved for whites only. Gradually all the seats on the bus were taken.
Another white man got on the bus and in keeping with standard segregation practices the driver, James F Blake, demanded that all four Afro-Americans sat behind the white section give up their seats to allow the white man to sit down.
Rosa Parks, an active member of the local NAACP, refused to move.
She was arrested under the Jim Crow laws and convicted in a 30 minute trial. Parks appealed and in so doing challenged the legality of segregation.
In Montgomery, Rosa Parks' Story Offers A History Lesson For Police https://t.co/8KKVrGV047pic.twitter.com/N3owyG7ie3
— SPLC (@splcenter) November 30, 2015
7053. 60 years ago today. Thank you, #RosaParks. Continue to rest in power. #Nonviolence365pic.twitter.com/r3pJ0OqOEL
— The King Center (@TheKingCenter) December 1, 2015
Edgar Nixon, the president of the Montgomery chapter of NAACP, met with Jo Ann Robinson, an Alabama State College professor, and it was decided that a Montgomery bus boycott must take place. On Sunday, December 4, 1955, the plan was announced at church services in the area and a front page article in the Montgomery Advertiser spread the word.
The die was cast and the boycott would last until Afro-Americans were treated with courtesy, black drivers were hired and seating distributed on a first come first serve basis.
Writing later in his book ‘Stride Toward Freedom’
Martin Luther King wrote “Actually, no one can understand the action of Ms Parks unless they realise that eventually the cup of endurance runs over, and the human personality cries out, ‘I can take it no longer.’
DART buses save Rosa Parks a seat today to salute the stand she took 60 years ago: https://t.co/fh7l2R6xVrpic.twitter.com/Jb4lZ7jMkL
— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) December 1, 2015
On the December 21, 1956, Montgomery’s public transport system was legally integrated. Although Rosa Parks was not the first to refuse to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus her defiance ignited the matchstick in the powder barrel.
Today's the 60th anniversary of the day #RosaParks refused to give up her seat #ChangeWeCanBelieveInpic.twitter.com/HA0PHZltqG
— Tom Hayes (@CllrTomHayes) December 1, 2015
After decades involved in the Civil Rights Movement Rosa died on October 24, 2005.
Quote of the Day: Rosa Parks pic.twitter.com/b2u3NIR5ze
— Prof.Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) December 1, 2015