[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 137 (Tuesday, October 25, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2172]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         IN HONOR OF ROSA PARKS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 25, 2005

  Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, yesterday we lost one of the truly great 
figures in American history, Rosa Parks. I rise to honor the life of 
the Civil Rights icon known for her strong and quite courage. Ms. Parks 
was a seamstress at the Montgomery Fair department store in Montgomery, 
Alabama. It was her refusal to surrender a bus seat to a white man that 
launched the modern civil rights movement 50 years ago and inspired 
generations of activists.
  During the 1950's, this nation was at a turning point in the area of 
race relations. Looking back, the Civil Rights movement had been 
building up, but a special moment, a spark, was needed to wake the 
national conscious. Rosa Parks stand provided that spark, and later 
became known as the ``mother of the civil rights movement''.
  The arrest of Rosa Parks inspired a young Reverend Martin Luther King 
Jr. to organize the famous Montgomery bus boycott. The 381 day 
Montgomery Bus Boycott, became one of the largest and most successful 
challenges of segregation, which drew more attention towards the civil 
rights movement.
  Ms. Parks dedicated her life towards achieving equality and freedom 
for all, serving as secretary of the NAACP and later the Adviser to the 
NAACP Youth Council, helping African Americans pass special tests which 
would allow them to register to vote. Mrs. Parks continued on her 
journey for racial equality when she tried to register to vote on 
several unsuccessful attempts.
  Over the years, Rosa Parks dedicated her time to educating her fellow 
Americans on the history of the civil rights struggle. In 1987, with 
the help of Elaine Eason Steele, Parks founded the Rosa and Raymond 
Parks Institute for Self-Improvement, a youth assistance organization 
in Detroit. The program takes young people on an educational tour that 
visits sites of importance in the civil rights movement.
  Because of the dedication Rosa Parks showed in the struggle for 
racial equality, her work has been recognized in receiving innumerable 
honors, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize 
Award, the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award, the Eleanor 
Roosevelt Women of Courage Award, Medal of Honor, the highest award 
that the U.S. government bestows, and the Presidential Medal of 
Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award.
  Mr. Speaker, Rosa Parks continued her commitment to civil rights 
until her death. She will always be known as a person who was immensely 
concerned about equality, freedom, prosperity justice for all and she 
will be dearly missed.

                          ____________________