Rep. Terri Sewell urges federal holiday honoring Rosa Parks

WASHINGTON (WSFA) - Thursday marks 67 years since seamstress Rosa Parks stepped aboard a Montgomery bus and rode into history, standing up for equality by refusing to stand from her seat at the request of a white man.

Parks’ actions and subsequent arrest prompted an organized boycott of the bus line and, a year later, the Montgomery Bus Boycott found itself successful in forcing racial integration onboard the transit system.

To mark the occasion, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, a Democrat representing Alabama’s 7th Congressional District, spoke on the Floor of the U.S. House to reflect Parks’ courage. Sewell also took the opportunity to discuss her co-sponsorship of H.R. 5111, the Rosa Parks Day Act, which would make Dec. 1 an annual federal holiday.

“This bill would ensure that her brave sacrifice will live on in American history forever and I urge my colleagues to sign on,” Sewell said. “As we reflect on her courage, let us never forget the power of ordinary Americans to achieve extraordinary social change. In the words of Rosa Parks, I urge you all to ‘never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.’”

Multiple events are scheduled in Alabama Thursday to commemorate Parks’ actions back in 1955.

The Civil Rights icon died in Detroit in 2005 at the age of 92.

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