February 4, 2013 marks what would have been the 100th birthday of Rosa Parks, legendary civil rights activist, one of the most revered and respect woman of her times. In 1999 Time magazine cited her as one of the 20 most influential people of the 20th Century.
In recognition of her achievements, The Black Heritage Series, a collection of postage stamps offered by the United States Post Office, pays tribute to Parks, the 35th honoree. A ceremony celebrating the unveiling of the new stamp took place on Feb.4, on what would have been Parks’ 100th birthday, at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. Another commemorative ceremony was also held at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
Rosa Parks is remembered for a most notable event that occurred on Dec. 1, 1955 when the soft-spoken seamstress was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Her quiet defiance resonated down the corridors of time, as that act launched the pivotal Montgomery bus boycott and the modern day Civil Rights Movement with Dr. Martin Luther King at the helm.
Miss Rosa sat down and sang, “I Shall Not Be Moved,” and when she stood up, look what happened.
Click here to learn more about the Black Heritage Series of postage stamps and to see seven other African American men and women who were so honored. A documentary excerpt from the life of Rosa Parks, who became known as “The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement,” is also attached.
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