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December 2, 1995
Web posted at: 2:00 p.m. EST
MONTGOMERY, Alabama (CNN) -- Forty years ago a black seamstress named
Rosa Parks refused to cede her seat on a city bus to a white man.
That single act of defiance by Parks, who was arrested for violating
a local segregation ordinance, sparked the modern civil rights
movement. The bus boycott and court case that followed opened seating
on Montgomery buses and launched a wave of protest that ultimately tore
down segregation laws across the South.
Parks, 82, returned to Montgomery Friday to mark the 40th anniversary of the 381-day bus boycott. Parks, who was secretary of the local chapter of the NAACP when she made history, is modest about her role in the civil rights movement. "I was just glad the people decided they would form that protest, that's what we called it instead of a boycott at that time," she said. (129K AIFF sound or 129K WAV sound)
Among those joining Parks for the five-day event: Coretta Scott King, widow of the late Martin Luther King Jr., and the sons of three men who led the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King III, Ralph David Abernathy III and Jesse Jackson Jr. The anniversary celebration included a tribute to Parks and a candlelight march.
While much has changed in the last 40 years, Mrs. King said blacks still have much to do to achieve equality in American society. "That was just the beginning of our stride toward freedom," she said . "We have a long way to go and, and I think we have to organize and become empowered through our own means, by pooling our resources."
During the Montgomery bus boycott, blacks and others opposed to the segregation ordinance refused to ride city buses which had been their primary source of transportation. Many men and women who participated in the boycott did so at great personal sacrifice walking miles to work through hostile neighborhoods and in poor weather rather than riding the bus.
Gertha, a 74 year-old woman who took part in the boycott and who declined to disclose her last name, said Parks did what others feared to do. "She realized it was wrong. She had that courage," said Gertha who sold insurance on foot during the boycott.
Susan Giles, another woman riding a Montgomery city bus Friday can remember riding on a segregated bus as a little girl. Forty years later, most of her fellow passengers are black and poor. They may sit anywhere they like on the bus, but they face other less tangible obstacles, a lack of employment opportunities and more subtle forms of racism.
"You can't hardly get no work," said Giles, 50. She says things have gotten worse for Montgomery blacks since the civil rights movement. "I don't know what changed," she said. "It just seems society doesn't want to help."
Still, Gertha believes the bus boycott was an important milestone in the civil rights struggle. "Progress doesn't seem as great now as it was then, but it was progress."
A black student who participated in the commemorative events said its important that young people learn about the bus boycott and the civil right protests that followed. " If you don't know where you've been, how do you know where you're going?" he asked.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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