The Alabama Legislature has voted to honor civil rights icon, Rosa Parks, with a holiday.
The bill was introduced by two Black state legislators – representative Laura Hall and Senator Vivian Figures – in both of Alabama’s chambers.
The Alabama House voted 120-0 to establish Mrs. Rosa L. Parks Day. Counties and municipalities across the state can elect to observe the holiday on December 1, the day Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a bus.
Alabama is the fifth state to honor Parks with a holiday. Ohio and Oregon alsp celebrate Rosa Parks Day on Dec. 1, and California and Missouri celebrate the icon on February 4, the day of her birthday.
Parks was born and raised in Alabama. It is also where she staged her well known act of civil disobedience. A dedicated member of the NAACP, her planned act of civil disobedience led to the Montgomery bus boycott, and ultimately the desegregation of buses in the city. This furthered the cause of the organization for racial and economic equality in America.
The bill is to be signed into law by Alabama’s governor, Kay Ivey.
