Res. No. 1240
Resolution commemorating the life and mourning the loss of Rosa Parks, an icon of the civil rights movement whose brave act of refusing to give up her seat on an Alabama bus in 1955 led to the end of legalized segregation in the United States; and further declaring that December 1st shall annually be observed as Rosa Parks Commemoration Day in New York City, and encouraging all businesses in the City, both public and private, to either close on December 1st or allow the many workers and students in the City who will want to attend Rosa Parks Commemoration events taking place during normal business hours, to take the day off, or leave work and school early with impunity .
By Council Members Barron, Clarke, Perkins, Fidler, James, Foster, Monserrate, McMahon, Seabrook, Katz, Dilan, Comrie, Vann, Moskowitz, Yassky, Quinn, Jackson, Stewart, Recchia Jr., Martinez, Liu, Baez, Boyland, Brewer, Gonzalez, Jennings, Sears, Weprin, Gioia, Felder, Nelson and The Public Advocate (Ms. Gotbaum)
Whereas, Rosa Parks, an icon of the civil rights movement, died on October 24, 2004 at the age of 92; and
Whereas, Rosa Parks was born Rosa Lee McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913, to James and Leona McCauley; and
Whereas, Growing up in segregated Montgomery, Alabama during the 1920’s and 1930’s, Rosa Parks was forced to attend second-rate all-black schools, such as the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls; and
Whereas, Rosa Parks was forced on a daily basis to obey Jim Crow segregation laws governing her behavior in public places, such as having to drink from separate water fountains and not being able to eat at whites-only restaurants, laws that she came to detest at an early age; and
Whereas, With her mother’s help, and despite the segregation laws that governed at that time, Rosa Parks was able to grow up proud of herself and other black people and believed that “people should be judged by the respect they have for themselves and others;” and
Whereas, In 1932, Rosa Parks married Raymond Parks, a barber who was active in civil rights causes, and together the couple enjoyed a modest degree of prosperity since Mrs. Parks also worked as a seamstress making bed sheets for the Montgomery Fair department store; and
Whereas, During the early 1940’s, Rosa Parks and her husband became members of the Voters League, a group that helped blacks pass a special voter registration literacy test which was designed to discourage blacks from voting and later banned by the Voting Rights Act of 1965; and
Whereas, In 1943, Rosa Parks became active in the American Civil Rights Movement when she began working as a secretary for the Montgomery, Alabama branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (“NAACP”) in her spare time, a position she held until 1957; and
Whereas, On December 1, 1955, on her way home from work, Rosa Parks boarded a Cleveland Avenue bus in Montgomery, Alabama and sat in the middle section of the bus that was designated for black riders, a section that was not fixed in size, but determined by the placement of a movable sign at the discretion of the bus driver; and
Whereas, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat after the bus driver placed the sign behind her and ordered her and three other black passengers to move so that a lone white man could sit in their seats; and
Whereas, Rosa Parks’ refusal to move from her seat resulted in her arrest and she was subsequently tried and convicted of disorderly conduct, as well as violating a local ordinance and fined $14; and
Whereas, Rosa Parks’ arrest and conviction prompted influential leaders of the African-American community in Montgomery, including the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to plan and carry out the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which began on December 5, 1955 and lasted for 381 days, until the laws requiring segregation on public buses were repealed; and
Whereas, Rosa Parks’ brave act in December 1955 ushered in the American Civil Rights Movement, which ultimately led to the United States Supreme Court ruling on November 13, 1956 that segregated bus service was unconstitutional, a decision that effectively put an end to the Jim Crow laws that had been established in the south; and
Whereas, Rosa Parks and her husband lived in Montgomery, Alabama until 1957 when they moved to Detroit, Michigan because she lost her job in the Montgomery Fair department store, her husband quit his job after his boss prevented him from talking about his wife’s legal case, and because they were the recipients of numerous threats and almost constant telephone harassment; and
Whereas, After relocating to Detroit, Michigan, Rosa Parks remained devoted to human rights causes and spent the later years of her life being sought out as a dignified spokesperson for the civil rights movement; and
Whereas, The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once stated that Rosa Parks “was regarded as one of the finest citizens of Montgomery - not one of the finest Negro citizens - but one of the finest citizens of Montgomery;” and
Whereas, In 1965, Rosa Parks became a staff assistant to United States Representative John Conyers of Michigan, a position she held until her retirement in 1988; and
Whereas, In February 1987, Rosa Parks and Elaine Eason Steele co-founded The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, an institute that offers career training for 12 to 18-year-olds and that runs the “Pathways to Freedom” bus tours that introduces young people to important civil rights and underground railroad sites throughout the country; and
Whereas, Rosa Parks published a children’s book in 1993 entitled “Rosa Parks: My Story,” which chronicled her life leading up to that monumental day in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat on the bus, and also published her memoirs Quiet Strength in 1995; and
Whereas, Rosa Parks was the recipient of many honorary doctorate degrees from universities worldwide, an honorary member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall Fame in 1983 and called upon to be a part of the group welcoming South African President Nelson Mandela to United States in 1990; and
Whereas, Rosa Parks was the recipient of numerous awards including the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal in 1979, it’s highest honor, and the Martin Luther King, Sr. award in 1980, the Rosa Parks Peace Prize in Stockholm, Sweden in 1994 and the first International Freedom Conductor Award given by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in 1998; and
Whereas, Rosa Parks received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996, and the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor in 1999, the highest civilian awards given by the Executive and Legislative branches of the United States government; and
Whereas, In November 2001, The Rosa Parks Library and Museum in Montgomery, Alabama was dedicated and is located on the corner where Mrs. Parks boarded the famed bus; and
Whereas, Rosa Parks courageous act on the Montgomery bus on December 1, 1955 earned her the nickname “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York commemorates the life and mourns the loss of Rosa Parks, an icon of the civil rights movement whose brave act of refusing to give up her seat on an Alabama bus in 1955 led to the end of legalized segregation in the United States; and, be it further
Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York declares that December 1st shall annually be observed as Rosa Parks Commemoration Day in New York City; and, be it further
Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York encourages all businesses in the City, both public and private, to either close on December 1st or allow the many workers and students in the City who will want to attend Rosa Parks Commemoration events taking place during normal business hours, to take the day off, or leave work and school early with impunity.
LS#3637/3689
RA
11/10/2005
h:word/resolutions/barron/clarke/ls#3637/3689