Seventy years ago today, on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks boarded a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Instead of taking her expected place in the back — an area designated for African Americans — she chose a seat in the front. When the bus driver demanded that she stand, she calmly replied, “No.” And when he threatened to have her arrested, she answered, “You may do that.”
Her refusal set in motion one of the most consequential social justice movements in our nation’s history: the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Beginning on December 5 and continuing for the next 13 months, African Americans brought Montgomery’s bus system to a halt through collective action, discipline, and extraordinary courage. Their efforts led to the November 1956 Supreme Court decision declaring racial segregation on public buses unconstitutional.
Rosa Parks lived a life rooted in courage, conscience, and unwavering commitment. Long before 1955, she was a seasoned civil rights advocate who investigated acts of racial violence and discrimination, including the 1944 kidnapping and rape of Recy Taylor by a group of White men. Parks’ steadfast pursuit of justice made her a target of harassment, yet she never stopped fighting.
Some have attempted to minimize her role in the movement by portraying her as a tired seamstress who simply refused to stand. Parks herself rejected that narrative. Years later she explained:
“People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically… I was 42. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
She also reminded us, “You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right,” and, “I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”
That is why NOW supports the efforts in Congress, led by Representatives Terri A. Sewell (AL-07), Joyce M. Beatty (OH-03), and Shomari C. Figures (AL-02), to designate December 1 as a federal holiday. Establishing Rosa Parks Day would not only honor one of the most influential figures in American history, it would mark the first federal holiday recognizing a woman.
Today and every day, we continue to draw strength from Rosa Parks’ example — her wisdom, her bravery, and her fierce dedication to the hard, necessary work that creates lasting change.
