MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A new statue of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks has been dedicated in Alabama’s capital city.
News outlets report that Steven Reed, who recently became the first African American mayor of Montgomery, took part in an unveiling ceremony Sunday. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey also attended.
The ceremony coincided with the anniversary of Parks’ Dec. 1, 1955 arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man. Her arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a pivotal part of the civil rights movement.
Reed says the statue of Parks will inspire people “to push toward the path of righteousness, strength, courage and equality.”
Four granite markers near the statue honor plaintiffs in a court case that determined segregation on Montgomery buses was unconstitutional.
Parks died in 2005.
