wfn.org | ABCUSA: Parks Remembered as Catalyst for Social Justice

["SCHRAMM, Richard" <Rich.Schramm@abc-usa.org>]

American Baptist News Service (Valley Forge, Pa.  10/26/05)--Rosa Parks,
who steadfastly refused to give up her seat to a white man on a
Montgomery, Ala., bus 50 years ago, is being remembered by American
Baptist leaders as a catalyst for social justice.

Parks died Monday at her home in Detroit at the age of 92.  Her act of
defiance, through which she was jailed and fined, fueled the momentum of
the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement and inspired Martin Luther King Jr.
and others.  Her arrest provoked King to organize a 381-day boycott of
the Montgomery bus system and subsequent nonviolent actions that
ultimately led to passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Parks, who worked for more than 20 years on the staff of Rep. John
Conyers of Michigan, had devoted much of time in retirement to the Rosa
and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, which she had founded
with her husband in Detroit.

She was the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the
Congressional Medal of Honor and the NAACP Image Award, among other
honors.

"The seemingly simple step of defiance that Rosa Parks took 50 years ago
was, in fact, a profoundly   courageous affirmation of inalienable
justice," said the Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley, general secretary of American
Baptist Churches USA.  "I believe God used this good and principled
woman to challenge the conscience of a nation and to usher in a new
understanding of the preciousness of human relationships.  We celebrate
her life and spirit today as we mourn her passing.  So much has changed
for the better in this nation over the past half century--let's remember
with gratitude the vital role this strong sister in the Lord played in
that journey."

The Rev. Dr. Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III, executive director of
National Ministries, American Baptist Churches USA, said, "The destiny
of my life and that of an entire generation was profoundly and forever
altered by the courage and commitment of Rosa Parks. She took a stand by
taking a seat.	It was my privilege to meet and work with her when I
served the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She was a gentle
giant who graced the stage of history for 92 years.  May her role in
transforming the soul of this nation never be forgotten."

The Rev. Dr. Albert Paul Brinson, retired American Baptist leader and a
colleague of Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement,
remembered Parks as "a true American who remained seated when many
lesser persons would have stood as commanded.  In remaining in her seat
on that Montgomery, Alabama, bus she truly stood for the best in the
American Dream.  Her courage will live on long after her death. Thanks
be to God for her unselfish act for us all."

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