Gov. Jay Nixon has proclaimed Tuesday, Feb. 4, as Rosa Parks Day in Missouri to honor the famed civil rights pioneer on what would have been her 101st birthday. A state law passed in 2006 designates that date to especially remember and honor the late Ms. Parks, who was born on Feb. 4, 1913 and who died in 2005.
In 1955, Parks refused to obey the order of a bus driver to give up her seat to a white male passenger on a city bus in Montgomery, Ala., leading to the successful boycott of the segregated city bus system and drawing national attention. She has been described as the “Mother of the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement,” and her refusal is considered one of the seminal events of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
“Missouri stands with the nation in honoring this great American,” Gov. Nixon said. “Almost 60 years after her courageous deed, we can honor the legacy of Rosa Parks by continuing to strive to protect the civil rights of all America
