25 Oct 2005 Black Conservative Reaction to the Death of Civil Rights Icon Rosa Parks

Members of the conservative black leadership network Project 21 are saddened by the passing of civil rights icon Rosa Parks, and honor her actions as a catalyst for positive change toward making America an equal-opportunity society.

Parks died of natural causes at her home in Detroit, Michigan on Monday night.  She was 92 years old.  This year marks the 50th anniversary of her arrest in Montgomery, Alabama for not giving up her seat on a city bus to a white passenger.  Her arrest led to the 13-month Montgomery bus boycott and was a factor in the rise of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Rosa Parks started a tidal wave of social consciousness in this country that ended the government’s disenfranchisement of millions of black Americans.  Without Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr. would probably have remained a pastor at a little-known church in Atlanta, Oprah Winfrey would still be in the backwoods of Mississippi and John Lewis would never have been empowered to represent the people of Georgia in the U.S. Congress,” said Project 21 member John Meredith.  “But Rosa Parks’s biggest impact on the fabric of America is the hope that the movement she started provides for today’s economically disenfranchised of all races.  The legacy of Rosa Parks will always provide inspiration for those seeking to escape the shackles of poverty and enjoy the promise of the American Dream.”

John Meredith’s father, James, is a fellow civil rights icon.  James Meredith was the first black student to be enrolled at Ole Miss in 1962.

For more information, contact David Almasi at (202) 507-6398 x11 or [email protected], or visit Project 21’s website at http://www.project21.org/P21Index.html. New Visions Commentaries can be found at https://nationalcenter.org/P21NewVisions.html.