On Tuesday, County Executive Marc Elrich and Council President Sidney Katz proclaimed Dec. 1 as Rosa Parks Day.
65 years ago Tuesday – December 1, 1955 – Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery Alabama bus. Her bravery and arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, where 42,000 African Americans walked instead of riding the city bus. This helped change the course of American history.
“Rosa Parks engaged in an act that challenged the status quo of her time. The simple act of sitting in a seat on a bus that she was prohibited from sitting in,” Elrich said in a council session. “It crystallized the absurdity of society that felt the need to determine something so basic as where a person is supposed to sit on a bus, based on their color.”
Elrich says although we’ve made progress, racial equality remains a challenge in our society that we must overcome.
To honor Ms. Parks’ actions, all County Ride On buses will have placards in her name.
Happy Rosa Parks Day! @MontCoExec Marc Elrich and @MoCoCouncilMD proclaimed today as Rosa Parks Day to recognize Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus on 12/1/1955. To mark the anniversary @RideOnMCT installed placards on County buses. pic.twitter.com/JQWZRYHLNp
— Montgomery County MD (@MontgomeryCoMD) December 1, 2020
