CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Whereas most historians date the beginning of the modern-day Civil Rights Movement in the United States to December 1, 1955;

Whereas December 1, 1955, is the date of Rosa Louise Parks' refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man and her subsequent arrest;

Whereas Rosa Louise Parks was born on February 4, 1913, as Rosa Louise McCauley to James and Leona McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama;

Whereas Rosa Louise Parks was educated in Pine Level, Alabama, until the age of 11, when she enrolled in the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls and then went on to attend the Alabama State Teachers College's High School;

Whereas on December 18, 1932, Rosa Louise McCauley married Raymond Parks and the two settled in Montgomery, Alabama;

Whereas, together, Raymond and Rosa Parks worked in the Montgomery, Alabama, branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), where Raymond served as an active member and Rosa served as a secretary and youth leader;

Whereas on December 1, 1955, Rosa Louise Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat in the `colored' section of the bus to a white man on the orders of the bus driver because the `white' section was full;

Whereas the arrest of Rosa Louise Parks led African Americans and others to boycott the Montgomery city bus line until the buses in Montgomery were desegregated;

Whereas the 381-day Montgomery bus boycott encouraged other courageous people across the United States to organize in protest and demand equal rights for all;

Whereas the fearless acts of civil disobedience displayed by Rosa Louise Parks and others resulted in a legal action challenging Montgomery's segregated public transportation system which subsequently led to the United States Supreme Court, on November 13, 1956, affirming a district court decision that held that Montgomery segregation codes deny and deprive African Americans of the equal protection of the laws (352 U.S. 903);

Whereas, in the years following the Montgomery bus boycott, Rosa Louise Parks moved to Detroit, Michigan, in 1957, and continued her civil rights work through efforts that included working in the office of Congressman John Conyers, Jr., from 1965 until 1988, and starting the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, a nonprofit 501©(3) that motivates youth to reach their highest potential, in 1987;

Whereas Rosa Louise Parks has been commended for her work in the realm of civil rights with such recognitions as the NAACP's Springarn Medal in 1979, the Martin Luther King, Jr., Nonviolent Peace Prize in 1980, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999; and

Whereas in 2005, the year marking the 50th anniversary of Rosa Louise Parks' refusal to give up her seat on the bus, we recognize the courage, dignity, and determination displayed by Rosa Louise Parks as she confronted injustice and inequality: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Congress--

(1) recognizes and celebrates the 50th anniversary of Rosa Louise Parks' refusal to give up her seat on the bus and the subsequent desegregation of American society;

(2) encourages the people of the United States to recognize and celebrate this anniversary and the subsequent legal victories that sought to eradicate segregation in all of American society; and

(3) endeavors to work with the same courage, dignity, and determination exemplified by civil rights pioneer, Rosa Louise Parks , to address modern-day inequalities and injustice.

Passed the House of Representatives September 14, 2005.