MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A new statue of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks was dedicated in Alabama’s capital city on Sunday, the 64th anniversary of her historic refusal to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man. Kay Ivey pulled back a cloth to unveil the statue before a crowd of about 400 spectators. The ceremony coincided with the anniversary of Parks’ Dec. 1, 1955 arrest that sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a pivotal part of the civil rights movement. Four granite markers near the statue honour plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, the court case that determined segregation on Montgomery buses was unconstitutional. Fred Gray, the attorney who defended Parks, the Browder v. Gayle plaintiffs and many other civil rights activists, sat in the second row at the unveiling.

Source: thestar December 01, 2019 21:56 UTC