On the Passing of Rosa Parks

ON THE PASSING OF ROSA PARKS -- (Extensions of Remarks - October 25, 2005)

SPEECH OF
HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL
OF NEW YORK
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2005

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and memory of the civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, who passed away on October 24, 2005, at the age of 92. Rosa Parks is one of our country's premier civil rights advocates, who worked in the Montgomery, Alabama office of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and is best known for refusing to relinquish her bus seat to a white man in December 1955.

Her quiet defiance lead to her arrest and sparked the movement that inspired the Civil Rights Act which banned racial discrimination in public accommodations, ending legal segregation in America. Her historic act of courage showed that it was long past time to roll back the Jim Crow era discrimination laws.

After taking her public stand for civil rights and the ensuing Montgomery bus boycott, Mrs. Parks was unable to obtain work in Alabama. In the midst of threats and harassment, she and her husband, Raymond Parks, moved to Detroit, MI in 1957. Mrs. Parks worked as an aide in Rep. John Conyers' Detroit office from 1965 until retiring September 30, 1988.

Upon her retirement, Mrs. Parks said she sought to dedicate more time to the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, founded in 1987. The Institute is committed to developing leadership among Detroit's young people and initiating them into the struggle for civil rights. Mrs. Parks continued to be a leader within her community and a symbol of freedom for all Americans up to her death.

Mr. Speaker, Rosa Parks' lifetime work and fight for the civil rights for African-Americans has not gone unnoticed in the last decade. Mrs. Parks was awarded the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton and the Congressional Gold Medal. Rosa Parks not only stood up for herself but for generations of African-Americans. Mrs. Parks will and shall forever remain an inspiration to those who are fighting for freedom and her legacy will remain iconic for the civil rights movement.

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