Rosa Parks Day at Georgia State Capitol moves to Feb. 9

ATLANTA—Originally set to take place on Feb. 5, the Rosa Parks Day at the Georgia State Capitol will now take place this Friday, Feb. 9. The Georgia General Assembly was not in session today, in observance of the late GA State Rep. Richard Smith’s funeral happening today in Columbus, GA.

Further information and updates for the Rosa Parks Day at the Georgia State Capitol will be released later this week, the Rosa Parks Consortium announced.

The upcoming Rosa Parks Day at the Georgia State Capitol is the last in a series of events in Atlanta showcasing a collaborative 111th birthday commemoration for Parks, often referred to as the “Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement” in America. Parks is best known for her role in the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott. Parks invigorated the Civil Rights Movement when she refused to give up her seat to a white man.  She was arrested on Dec. 1, 1955.

With the collaborative 111th commemoration comes synergism for public awareness and petition work to support a federal holiday.  Parks, as a recipient of both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, emphasized that “the work” was not done until she passed in 2005.

A national Rosa Parks Day holiday will ensure Mrs. Parks’ leadership legacy in American history remains present for all Americans. Her indomitable commitment to the critical citizen and government leadership necessary to end the disparity in socio-economic outcomes in America never ceased. That kind of “Mrs. Parks commitment” needed to take on America’s remaining systemic and societal discrimination, organizers say, can be amplified through a federal holiday to ensure “the work” imperative continues forward in the 21st century.

The current collaborative effort and intention extends to Parks’ nieces, grandnieces and grandnephews, as well as to governmental representatives from the communities across the United States that Parks served – in the South, in the North, in the Midwest, and on the West coast.

Convened by Former SCLC Youth Director and National Board member Brenda Davenport and Sean and Whitney Carnes, the consortium includes Civil rights, community, and governmental leaders old and young. The following are representative of the organizations and groups participating in the Rosa Parks Consortium: the A. D. King Foundation, Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, the Legacy Movement Connection, SCLC Women, Operation Rosa, Always More Rosa, and Pearls of Freedom.

Atlanta’s transit authority, the Metropolitan Atlanta Transit Authority (MARTA), is a sponsor of the Rosa Parks Holiday Weekend and a commemoration partner. MARTA made available a historical bus from Rosa Parks’ days as well as a commemorative MARTA pass with an imprinted image of Mrs. Parks.