60 Years Later: Remembering Rosa

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — Sixty years ago, Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old secretary for the NAACP defied Jim Crow laws that called for the separation of the races by refusing to move to the back of a bus in order to allow a white passenger to have her seat.

Her defiant act in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955 was a pivotal point in the nonviolent civil rights movement and marked the day in history.
For over a year, African-Americans boycotted public transportation to protest Parks’ arrest and, in turn, segregation laws.
Parks died in 2005 at the age of 92 but her act transformed Parks into a symbol of the struggle and is often referenced in the what some say is the current plight of African-Americans protesting against social injustice.