60th Anniversary of Rosa Parks Refusing to Move on Bus
Today marks the 60th anniversary of the iconic day in history when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white person in Montgomery, Alabama.
The simple act sparked a series of events in the Civil Rights Movement, making Parks the symbol of racial struggles in the 1950’s and on. While that was 60 years ago, Coast Civil Rights leaders believe future generations still have so much to learn from Parks’ act of civil disobedience and the peaceful protests that followed. Vice President of the Biloxi NAACP Gordon Jackson said, “She chose to stand up and not obey those orders and took that stand. She went to jail so that is something that people need to realize, that there are circumstances. If you stand up for your rights and you go through those circumstances and then come back and organize and strategize to stand up, continue to stand up for your rights, then good things will happen.”
For over a year, African Americans boycotted public transportation to protest Parks’ arrest. This led to the United States Supreme Court ruling of desegregation on buses in Montgomery.
The simple act sparked a series of events in the Civil Rights Movement, making Parks the symbol of racial struggles in the 1950’s and on. While that was 60 years ago, Coast Civil Rights leaders believe future generations still have so much to learn from Parks’ act of civil disobedience and the peaceful protests that followed. Vice President of the Biloxi NAACP Gordon Jackson said, “She chose to stand up and not obey those orders and took that stand. She went to jail so that is something that people need to realize, that there are circumstances. If you stand up for your rights and you go through those circumstances and then come back and organize and strategize to stand up, continue to stand up for your rights, then good things will happen.”
For over a year, African Americans boycotted public transportation to protest Parks’ arrest. This led to the United States Supreme Court ruling of desegregation on buses in Montgomery.
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