[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 160 (Wednesday, December 14, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2519]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E2519]]


IN HONOR AND RECOGNITION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LEGACY OF ROSA 
                                 PARKS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 14, 2005

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor and recognition of 
the 59th Anniversary of the day that the civil rights movement was 
ignited. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, tired of following societal 
laws steeped in racism and degradation, became a reluctant hero of the 
civil rights movement when she refused to surrender her seat and her 
dignity to a white man on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama.
  Rosa Parks, a soft spoken, private and hardworking seamstress, was 
immediately arrested and convicted of violating segregation laws. The 
incident drew an immediate and passionate response. With the support of 
the NAACP and civil rights leaders, including Rev. Ralph Abernathy and 
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., African Americans in Montgomery 
boycotted the city buses and declared their refusal to ride the buses 
until the U.S. Supreme Court denounced the Jim Crow laws that continued 
to strangle the soul of America. Thirteen months later, the boycott 
ended when, in November 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that 
segregation on public buses was unconstitutional.
  The humiliation experienced by Rosa Parks was reflective of a long 
line of human injustices directed upon African Americans by the white 
ruling class since the dawn of our nation. Rosa Parks' simple refusal 
was a monumental act of courage and dignity that cast centuries of 
injustice, ingrained in the foundation of American culture, into the 
clear light of day. She knowingly sacrificed her own safety, the safety 
of her family and her privacy for the greater good. Rosa Parks' 
historic refusal to give up her seat on a city bus set the civil rights 
movement on fire and the power of her simple gesture is as significant 
and relevant today as it was 50 years ago. She remained dedicated to 
the civil rights movement and humanitarian causes until her recent 
death at age 92.
  Mr. Speaker and Colleagues, please join me in honor, recognition and 
memory of Rosa Parks, whose singular life forever changed the world by 
raising the human race into the promise of justice for all. Her quiet 
refusal to surrender represented a million acts of resistance that came 
before her and set a path for those who would follow. Rosa Parks became 
an icon of human rights and her voice joined with a chorus of millions 
demanding freedom from oppression, echoing from the isle of a city bus 
to the hallowed halls of the United States Supreme Court. Rosa Parks' 
quiet act of defiance awoke America from its centuries old slumber of 
ignorance and oppression and her journey will continue to bring hope 
and inspiration to those still fighting to walk in the light of human 
dignity and justice--in Montgomery, Alabama, across our country and 
around the world.

                          ____________________