Boston City Council backs Dec. 1 struggle in Rosa Park’s name

Rosa Parks

On Oct. 26, the Boston City Council passed a 13-0 resolution in tribute to Rosa Parks and also in support of the Dec. 1 National Day of Absence against Racism, Poverty and War. Activists in New York, Baltimore and Detroit are organizing support in those areas to get a similar resolution passed. In Oakland, Calif., Million Worker March Movement leaders such as Clarence Thomas are discussing a possible Dec. 1 resolution with the city council there.

Councillors Charles C. Yancey, Chuck Turner, Felix Arroyo, Rob Consalvo, Maureen Feeney, Michael Flaherty, Maura Hennigan, James Kelly, Jerry Mcdermott, Stephen Murphy, Michael Ross, Paul Scapicchio and John Tobin passed the following resolution on Oct. 26.

Rosa Parks 1913-2005

WHEREAS: Rosa Louise McCauley was born February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama to James McCauley, a carpenter, and Leona McCauley, a school teacher; and

WHEREAS: At the age of 11 she enrolled in the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls and later at Alabama State Teachers College. At twenty, Rosa married a barber named Raymond Parks; and

WHEREAS: Mrs. Parks, on December 1, 1955, refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama, resulting in her arrest; and

WHEREAS: Mrs. Parks' defiance triggered the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott and earned her the title Mother of the Civil Rights Movement; and

WHEREAS: The 382-day Boycott introduced the world to Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who was President of the Montgomery Improvement Association and the Boycott's spokesperson; and

WHEREAS: The federal district court on June 4, 1956, ruled bus segregation unconstitutional; and

WHEREAS: Mrs. Parks and her husband, Raymond Parks, in 1957 moved to Detroit, Michigan where Mrs. Parks served on the staff of U.S. Representative John Conyers; and

WHEREAS: The Southern Christian Leadership Council later established an annual Rosa Parks Freedom Award in her honor; and

WHEREAS: Mrs. Parks founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development to offer guidance to young African-Americans; and

WHEREAS: President Clinton presented Mrs. Parks with the Congressional Medal of Freedom in 1995; and

WHEREAS: Mrs. Parks spent her last years in Detroit, where she died on October 24, 2005 at the age of 92; Therefore Be It

RESOLVED: That the Boston City Council, in meeting assembled, remembers Rosa Parks and the sacrifices that she made in advancing civil rights; And Be It Further

RESOLVED: That the Boston City Council, in meeting assembled, proclaims the year 2005 as Rosa Parks year in the City of Boston and honors Rosa Parks by flying the flag of the United States of America at half mast for one week on all City of Boston Properties; And Be It Further

RESOLVED: That the Boston City Council encourages all businesses in the City of Boston, both public and private to either close on December 1, 2005, or allow the many workers and students in the City who will want to attend the Rosa Parks Commemoration event taking place during normal business hours, to take the day off, or leave work and school early with impunity.