Reflecting on the catalyst for civil justice in his life, Frank Smith Jr., founder of the African American Civil War Museum, credits the “quiet strength” of a 42-year-old seamstress on Dec. 1, 1955, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and sparked a revolution in the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
“Not only did she ignite that fire in Montgomery, but she ignited that fire in the Civil Rights Movement all across the country,” Smith, a longtime activist, told The Informer during an Oct. 24 commemoration in honor of Parks’ death at the O Museum in the Mansion in Northwest D.C. “It inspired me as a young Morehouse College student to start a … movement in Atlanta, to get in marching, and eventually to go to Mississippi for a group called the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.”
As Dec. 1 marks the 70th anniversary of Parks’ arrest in Alabama, civic leaders and institutions nationwide are celebrating the revered “mother of the [Civil Rights] Movement” by emphasizing her lifelong legacy of resilience.
“It took somebody special in Montgomery,” said Smith, a former Ward 1 D.C. Council member. “She sat down, made us all stand up, [and] gave us the courage that changed the United States of America.”
The October event is one of many this year honoring the freedom fighter and emphasizing her vision, in a time when African American history, inclusion and contributions, for many, equate to a sitting grenade.
Institutions such as the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Michigan — home to the bus where the civil rights leader took her seated stand — and Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery will commemorate the Dec. 1 milestone with free day-of admission, interactive discussions, and mobilizations that highlight Parks’ overall legacy.
“We do a disservice by limiting her to this one action when it’s really her decades of activism beforehand that prepared her for what she does in December of 1955,” said Amber Mitchell, the Henry Ford Museum’s curator of Black History. “A lot of civil rights veterans…tend to say they were at the right place at the right time, and then a combination of things happened. That definitely was the case with Mrs. Park.”
In Ohio, due to efforts led by Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH.), constituents will mark 20 years of celebrating Rosa Parks Day, one of several “lasting tributes” to the movement that began seven decades ago.
“As a member of the Ohio General Assembly, I led the fight to make Ohio the very first state in the nation to recognize Rosa Park’s Day, and it was a proud moment for me,” said Beatty earlier this year. “For nearly two decades, Ohio’s Rosa Park Tribute has engaged thousands of children, educators, and community leaders. That is the power of a holiday like this.”
However, the congresswoman’s mission extends beyond one state.
On Feb. 4, what would have been Parks’ 112th birthday, Beatty introduced the Rosa Parks Commemorative Coin Act, and joined Reps. Terri Sewell (D-AL.) and Shomari C. Figures (AL-02) to designate Dec. 1 as a federal holiday.
“Rosa Parks did not just make a moment; she transformed a nation,” Beatty told The Informer in a recent statement. “Her courageous refusal to give up her seat on that Montgomery bus sparked a movement that still guides us today. It is a fight we continue in our communities, in the halls of Congress, and across this country for our people and the soul of this nation.”
Dec. 1, 1955: ‘More Than a Moment’
By the time Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus in late 1955, the Tuskegee, Alabama native was already making waves in civic activism throughout her home state.
Born Rosa Louise McCauley on February 4, 1913, Parks turned a lifelong battle with racial and gender discrimination into a catalyst for reform at an early age.
Soon after marrying husband Raymond Parks at 19, the civil rights icon joined the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) where she served as youth leader and secretary to former local president E.D. Nixon until 1957.
Guided by a deeply-rooted belief in the power of young people “to change the world,” Mitchell says Parks worked closely with a roster of emerging leaders, including a young Claudette Colvin – the 15-year-old who refused to give up her seat and was arrested nine months earlier.
“At [the time of Parks’ arrest], they’re coming off a number of different activities happening throughout Montgomery,” Mitchell explained. “Mrs. Parks had not only the backing of the NAACP in Alabama, there was also much work that had already been done…that kind of prepared for this moment.”
The curator touts the unequivocal leadership of Black women as a whole, and particularly those in the Women’s Political Committee (WPC) of Montgomery, whose efforts towards desegregating public transit began three years prior to the 381-day protest.
With Parks’ Dec. 1 arrest catapulting the movement, the WPC prepared more than 30,000 flyers and led mass meetings to gain momentum, even appointing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as president of the motion.
“[Dec. 1] is a day to really honor the courage that she took, but also the courage of all the other men and women who came together through the bus boycott to enact real changes in this country,” Donna Biesel, director of museum operations at the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, told The Informer. “Mrs. Parks was very involved in the development of the museum, and she was adamant that it be about the community coming together to make these changes, that it wasn’t just her.”
For Robert Kelleman, founder and director of the Washington, DC History and Culture nonprofit, part of honoring next month’s 70th anniversary is setting the record straight on the longest protest in American history.
A native of Detroit, Kelleman works to eliminate the common misconceptions derived from Parks’ story, such as the many people who attribute her infamous mugshot to her 1955 arrest, when it actually hails from a mass indictment in February 1956— an attempt to criminalize and implicate civil rights leaders, including her and King.
Additionally, he notes the famed photo of “the mother of the movement” sitting on a bus was taken quite some time after the boycott ended.
“Most people know that she didn’t give up her seat and she got arrested, [but] they don’t really know much else about her,” he told The Informer.
That’s why the veteran tour guide is hosting a virtual screening of “The Rosa Parks Story ” (2002) on Nov. 22 and Dec. 1, prompting immersive discussions that distinguish fact from fiction and celebrate the generational impact of preserving Black stories.
“You have to think that over time, the world has become a better place, just because people are aware of these individuals and what they’ve accomplished,” Kelleman continued, “and they’re kind of continuing the legacy.”
Carrying ‘Forward Her Call to Justice‘
At the Rosa Parks Museum, Dec. 1 is about highlighting the lifelong activism of the institution’s namesake, striving to connect modern generations to the power of taking a stand.
In addition to a temporary exhibit dedicated to her life’s work, the institution will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its opening, as well as partner with St. Paul A.M.E. Church – Parks’ church while she lived in Montgomery – to host a freedom walk in the evening.
Additional anticipated highlights include: commemorative coins, treats and T-shirts; honorable remarks from community leaders; and a chance to board a state-issued 1950s bus, where attendees of all ages can sit in Parks’ shoes and gain a sense of the impact of segregation practices and subsequent resistance.
“There are certain people and certain actions right now trying to silence those stories, rewrite those stories, [so] it’s important to continue to tell the truth of what these people went through simply because of the color of their skin,” Biesel told The Informer, “but also how they had the strength and the resilience to stand up to that…and reach people who are different.”
When they aren’t busy boarding the very bus where Parks sat nearly 70 years ago, Mitchell says Henry Ford Museum participants can look forward to exploring the subject deeper, beyond the consumption of historical artifacts and authentic recordings.
The museum curator touts a mission for today’s activists to learn the true meaning of resilience and advocacy, a vision she says illuminates through the scrolls of pioneers like Parks, the women of the WPC, and all those who laid the foundation of Black liberation.
“Look at the strategies and the tactics that community members used to turn individual issues…into a movement, [to] put pressure on these systems that led to change,” Mitchell pleaded. “What really matters is what happens between marches [and rallies]…at tables, at churches, at other meeting centers that people are not just meeting but actually…having those hard conversations about what are we willing to sacrifice for all of us to reap a benefit that we might not even see.”
While reiterating the 381-day Bus Boycott “nearly bankrupt the city of Montgomery,” Mitchell nestled in the values of collaboration and persistence that persevered seven decades ago – a time when communities came together with “a lot less than what we have now,” yet still served a lasting impact.
“That’s something that should not be forgotten. We innovate in terms of progression, but we also innovate in terms of oppression,” Mitchell reminded. “In this moment, in this time where it could not be more important to learn from our ancestors like Mother Rosa Parks …we can do whatever needs to happen for us to transform our world today.”
With the 70th arrest anniversary approaching, and next year’s 250th birthday of America, Beatty is pushing all constituents to join the steadfast mission to mark Parks’ memory with an official day of recognition.
“Women like Rosa Parks pushed America towards a more perfect union–yet, not a single federal holiday honors a woman,” said Beatty during the Feb. 4 press conference introducing the bill. “It’s not just a day off. It’s a day to teach, to reflect and to encourage that every child in America knows Rosa Parks, understands her impact and carries forward her call to justice.”
Smith topped this point with a reminder of the American dream birthed through Black resilience.
“This country was not a land of liberty, freedom, and all those things that people think of…before the African American community, starting with the actions of the soldiers in the Civil War and Civil Rights Movement,” the civic activist and historian declared, “[soldiers like] Rosa Parks who took the first steps, put their life on the line.
And because they stood up,” he continued, “it gave us all courage to continue this fight.”
In closing thoughts, Mitchell imagined the “humbled” pioneer would beam at the thought of her legacy still moving the nation forward – closer to the ideals that reflect the spirits of those who fought for it.
“Sometimes all it takes is one person to push over that domino and the rest fall,” Mitchell told The Informer. “It is her work, her shoulders that I’m standing on, alongside many, many millions of…other people who are inspired by her activism. All I could say to her is, thank you.”