The unveiling of a statue honoring the heroic and courageous Rosa Parks drew in a crowd of nearly 400 downtown Montgomery, Alabama on Sunday.
The ceremony was held at the downtown site where, on December 1st 1955, Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus. According to the Montgomery Advertiser, the statue was one of multiple tributes to the civil rights leader, and the second year that the city of Montgomery celebrated Parks with her own official day.
During the ceremony, Steven Reed, the first African American mayor of Montgomery, shared his thoughts on the legacy of Parks and her overwhelming influence.
“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 Reed. “She was a consummate contributor to equality and did so with a quiet humility that is an example for all of us.”
A new statue dedicated to civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks was unveiled in Alabama’s capital city on Sunday, the 64th anniversary of her historic refusal to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man. https://t.co/UtcwodlKZU pic.twitter.com/XHC9Fzst8j
— ABC News (@ABC) December 2, 2019
The arrest of Rosa Parks was one of the major events that led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, where segregation on Montgomery buses was ultimately deemed as unconstitutional through the landmark case of Browder v. Gayle. Thus, along with the Parks memorial, the city also presented two markers for the plaintiffs of the monumental case.
The Montgomery Advertiser reports that Fred Gray, the defense lawyer for Parks, the Browder v. Gayle plaintiffs, and more civil rights heroes, were all present for the ceremony.
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