Alabama NewsCenter — Equal Justice Initiative unveils new Rosa Parks statue in Montgomery, Alabama

By: Alabama News Center Staff

Rosa Parks‘ refusal to move to the back of a segregated Montgomery bus helped spark the modern civil rights movement. On Wednesday, just a few blocks from where she was arrested, a new statue of Parks made its debut, commemorating her bravery and seminal contribution to the struggle for equal rights.

The statue itself is 6 feet tall, measured with the base of the statue it is 8 feet tall. It is located at Legacy Plaza, just across from Montgomery’s Legacy Museum. It depicts Parks as if she was still sitting on the bus from which she was forcibly removed by police on Dec. 1, 1955. Her arrest for violating the city’s segregation laws led to the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott, an unprecedented demonstration that elevated a young Black pastor, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to national prominence.

The sculpture of Parks is the first of three statues to be installed at Legacy Plaza in the coming months. The nonprofit Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) also plans to create a major statue honoring King, and one honoring the late civil rights activist, Georgia congressman and Alabama native John Lewis.

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