20th Anniversary of Rosa Parks Day

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.