Levin, Stabenow introduce Senate resolution honoring the 100th birthday of Rosa Parks
Friday, December 14, 2012
WASHINGTON – Michigan Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow are joined by more than 50 cosponsors in introducing a Senate resolution [PDF] honoring the 100th birthday of civil rights hero Rosa Parks.
Mrs. Parks’ 1955 arrest after refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus to a white passenger sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a turning point in the fight for civil rights. She and her husband, Raymond, relocated to Michigan in 1957, and she lived there until her death in 2005.
“Rosa Parks’ quiet courage proved that one person’s request for simple human dignity can change the world,” Levin said. “The bus boycott she began was the beginning of an American revolution that elevated the status of African Americans nationwide. As the 100th anniversary of her birth approaches, it’s fitting that the Senate commemorate her lasting legacy.”
“Rosa Parks proved that the simplest acts can be the most heroic,” Stabenow said. “By courageously sitting down to stand up for her basic human dignity, she changed our nation’s history and made America a more just and moral place. As her 100th birthday approaches, all of us in Michigan should be proud that Rosa Parks chose to make our state her home.”
In Michigan, plans are under way to mark the 100th anniversary on Feb. 4, 2013. The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn will commemorate Mrs. Parks’ 100th birthday by calling for a National Day of Courage and sponsoring a program that highlights her contributions to the civil rights movement.
The bipartisan resolution’s lead Republican sponsor is Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. Other cosponsors include Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.; Mary Landrieu, D-La.; Thad Cochran, R-Miss.; Tom Harkin, D-Iowa; Richard Shelby, R-Ala.; John Cornyn, R-Texas; Barbara Boxer, D-Calif; Patty Murray, D-Wash.; Tom Coburn, R-Okla.; John Kerry, D-Mass.; Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas; Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; Harry Reid, D-Nev.; Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.; Richard Durbin, D-Ill.; Mark Pryor, D-Ark.; Bill Nelson, D-Fla.; Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.; Kent Conrad, D-N.D.; Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.; Herb Kohl, D-Wis.; Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.; Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Chris Coons, D-Del.; Max Baucus, D-Mont.; Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.; Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; Ben Cardin, D-Md.; Kay Hagan, D-N.C.; Robert Casey, D-Pa.; Mark Begich, D-Alaska; Robert Menendez, D-N.J.; Mark Warner, D-Va.; Tom Udall, D-N.M.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii; Bob Corker, R-Tenn.; Tim Johnson, D-S.D.; Al Franken, D-Minn.; Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.; Mark Udall, D-Colo.; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii; Jack Reed, D-R.I.; and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, for whom Mrs. Parks worked for two decades, has introduced a similar resolution in the House of Representatives.