Rosa Parks Statue Unveiled in Washington

A statue of US civil rights icon Rosa Parks is unveiled at the Statuary Hall in the Capitol building in Washington DC.

Published

3 months ago

Categories

US

Topics

United States

People

Barack Obama, Rosa Parks

Places

United States of America, Alabama, Washington, D.C., Montgomery

Transcript

U.S. civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks. On Wednesday, a 9-foot bronze statue of her was unveiled at the U.S. Capitol. U.S. President Barack Obama spoke of Park's courage to stand up for change. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SAYING: "This morning, we celebrate a seamstress, slight in stature but mighty in courage. She defied the odds, and she defied injustice. She lived a life of activism, but also a life of dignity and grace. And in a single moment, with the simplest of gestures, she helped change America -- and change the world." Parks made history in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man. Her arrest in segregated Montgomery, Alabama sparked a bus boycott that lasted more than a year, and was seen as a crucial accomplishment by the U.S. civil rights movement. Her statue is the first of an African-American woman to be placed in the Statuary Hall. Parks died in October of 2005.