On this day 60 years ago, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus in Montgomery, Ala. Today, Dallas Area Rapid Transit is honoring her by reserving the front seat of more than 500 DART buses.
A sign on the seat says: “Reserved In Honor Of Rosa Parks.”
“On the 60th anniversary of her courageous act, DART salutes Rosa Parks, whose quiet strength made a seat available for everyone,” the sign says.
Today, we honor the strength and bravery of Rosa Parks & thank her for taking a stand for equality. #RosaParksPlaza pic.twitter.com/ieXjny8MLY
— dartmedia (@dartmedia) December 1, 2015
DART is also installing two plaques at DART’s Rosa Parks Plaza in downtown Dallas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWLgl3U_1_k
About Rosa Parks
"Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, was arrested after refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery city bus," the Associated Press reports. "The incident sparked a year-long boycott of the buses by blacks."
Her arrest sparked the boycott, led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a Montgomery pastor, and others. The boycott would continue for a year, until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the city and state laws segregating buses violated the U.S. Constitution.
Parks died in 2005. She was 92.
In Alabama
The Associated Press reports on events honoring Parks in Montgomery:
The 60th anniversary of the bus boycott will put a spotlight on Montgomery again as weeklong commemoration celebrates the seminal moment of the civil rights movement. City bells will chime on the anniversary of Parks' arrest and a new historic marker will be placed at her arrest site, near the transfer station where the large city blue buses lumber in and out.
NPR coverage: Michel Martin in Montgomery
NPR’s Michel Martin is in Montgomery today “to look back on the boycott, and speak with the new generation carrying the civil rights torch.” The conversation is at 6:30 p.m. Central time. The event will be streamed online here.
From NPR: Riding the bus today
“Sixty years after Parks was arrested for refusing to give her seat to a white passenger, the buses in Montgomery continue to be an unpleasant experience for many riders,” NPR’s Debbie Elliott reports.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
