top
Central Valley
Central Valley
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

20th Anniversary of Rosa Parks Day

by Michael Harris
20 years later the struggle continues in the City of Sacramento to honor the "Patron Saint" of the Women's Political Council who later became the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement." Thankfully, Attorney Fred Gray, Esq. is still on the case and preparing to join us MLK 50 Anniversary - Sacramento Public Library.
img_3934.jpg
BILL NUMBER: ACR 116 CHAPTERED

FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE FEBRUARY 4, 2000

ADOPTED IN SENATE FEBRUARY 3, 2000

ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 31, 2000

INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Wesson, Washington, Wright, and Vincent

(Principal coauthors: Senators Hughes and Murray)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Aanestad, Ackerman, Alquist, Aroner, Ashburn, Baldwin, Bates, Battin, Baugh, Bock, Brewer, Briggs, Calderon, Campbell, Cardenas, Cardoza, Cedillo, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Cunnen, Cunningham, Davis, Dickerson, Ducheny, Dutra, Firebaugh, Florez, Gallegos, Granlund, Havice, Hertzberg, Honda, House,
Jackson, Kaloogian, Keeley, Knox, Kuehl, Leach, Lempert, Leonard,
Longville, Lowenthal, Machado, Maddox, Maldonado, Margett, Mazzoni, McClintock, Migden, Nakano, Olberg, Oller, Robert Pacheco, Rod Pacheco, Papan, Pescetti, Reyes, Romero, Runner, Scott, Shelley, Soto, Steinberg, Strickland, Strom-Martin, Thompson, Thomson,
Torlakson, Villaraigosa, Wayne, Wiggins, Wildman, and Zettel)

JANUARY 24, 2000

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 116 - Relative to Rosa Parks Day.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

116, Wesson. Rosa Parks Day.

This measure would proclaim Rosa Park's birthday, Friday, February 4, 2000, and the first Monday following February 4 of each subsequent year, as Rosa Parks Day in California.

WHEREAS, Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee,
Alabama, the first child of James and Leona (Edwards) McCauley; and
WHEREAS, Rosa Louise McCauley married Raymond Parks on December 18, 1932; and
WHEREAS, Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955, in
Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, and her stand for equal rights became legendary; and
WHEREAS, Rosa Parks' arrest for refusing to comply with Montgomery's segregation law was the impetus for a boycott of Montgomery buses, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by approximately 42,000 African
Americans for 381 days; and
WHEREAS, On November 13, 1956, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Montgomery's segregation law was unconstitutional, and on
December 20, 1956, Montgomery officials were ordered to desegregate buses; and
WHEREAS, Rosa Parks is honored as the "Mother of the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement," because her refusal to surrender her seat in compliance with Montgomery's segregation law inspired the civil rights movement, which has resulted in the breakdown of numerous
legal barriers and the lessening of profound discrimination against
African Americans in this country; and
WHEREAS, The courage and conviction of Rosa Parks laid the
foundation for equal rights for all Americans and for the Civil
Rights Act of 1964; and
WHEREAS, Rosa Parks was the first woman to join the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP, and was an active volunteer for the Montgomery
Voters League; and
WHEREAS, Rosa Parks cofounded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development in 1987 with Elaine Easton Steele to motivate and direct youth to achieve their highest potential through the
"Pathways to Freedom" program; and
WHEREAS, Rosa Parks is the recipient of many awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, the highest honor Congress can bestow upon a civilian, and the first International Freedom Conductor Award from the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, among many other awards and honors; and
WHEREAS, Rosa Parks has dedicated her life to the cause of human rights and truly embodies the love of humanity and freedom; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California hereby declares her birthday, Friday, February 4, 2000, and the first Monday following February 4 of each subsequent year, as Rosa Parks Day and urges all Californians to pay homage to this great American
woman; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.


img_3938.jpg
2020 the legacy of Rosa Louise McCauley Parks is poised for global celebration

WHEREAS, Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama, the first child of James and Leona (Edwards) McCauley; and

WHEREAS, Rosa Parks attended the Industrial School for Girls in Montgomery and a secondary education led by the Alabama State Teachers College for Negroes. Rosa left school in her senior year to attend to her sick grandmother and mother in rural Alabama; and

WHEREAS, Rosa Louise McCauley married Raymond Parks on December 18, 1932 and returned to finish her high school degree in 1933. Over time, Parks became increasingly active in Civil Rights issues and joined the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP in 1943, serving as the chapter’s youth leader as well as secretary to NAACP President E.D. Nixon; and

WHEREAS, in September 1944, Rosa Parks boldly investigated the abduction and gang rape of Recy Taylor, a then 24 year old mother and rural agriculture sharecropper walking home from church. The unprosecuted crime received extensive coverage and brought attention to the history of racial violence, particularly against women in the Deep South. Rosa Parks founded the “Committee for Equal Justice for Mrs. Recy Taylor" with the support of W.E.B. Dubois, Mary Church Terrell and Langston Hughes, among others, but still faltered under the weight of entrenched Alabama bigotry; and

WHEREAS, Rosa Parks, "Patron Saint" for the Women’s Political Council of Montgomery, Alabama was arrested on December 1, 1955, for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, and her stand for equal rights became legendary; and

WHEREAS, Rosa Parks’ arrest for refusing to comply with Montgomery’s segregation law was the impetus for a boycott of Montgomery buses, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by approximately 42,000 African Americans for 381 days; and

WHEREAS, the Montgomery Bus Boycott was the seminal event of the Civil Rights Movement when the United States Supreme Court ruled on the Browder vs. Gayle case, that Montgomery’s segregation law was unconstitutional, and on December 20, 1956, Montgomery officials were ordered to desegregate buses; and

WHEREAS, Rosa Parks is honored as the “Mother of the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement,” because her refusal to surrender her seat in compliance with Montgomery’s segregation law inspired the civil rights movement, which has resulted in the breakdown of numerous legal barriers and the lessening of profound discrimination against African Americans in this country; and

WHEREAS, The courage and conviction of Rosa Parks laid the foundation for equal rights for all Americans and for the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and

WHEREAS, Rosa Parks is the recipient of many awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, the highest honor Congress can bestow upon a civilian, and the first International Freedom Conductor Award from the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, among many other awards and honors; and

WHEREAS, Rosa Parks has dedicated her life to the cause of human rights and truly embodies the love of humanity and freedom; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the City of Sacramento, County of Sacramento, and California State Legislature Assembly of the State of California, officially celebrated Rosa Parks birthday, on this 20th Anniversary, Tuesday, February 4, 2020, the Mayor and Sacramento City Council, Sacramento County and residents throughout the Great State of California, to pay homage to the "Patron Saint" of the Women's Political Council and later the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement"; and be it further resolved...
Add Your Comments
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$80.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network