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Rosa Parks' Passing: Media Release

On October 24, 2005 Mrs. Rosa Louis Parks passed away in her Detroit home due to natural causes. Mrs. Parks is largely regarded as the Mother of the modern day Civil Rights movement. On December 1, 1955 Mrs. Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, AL bus. Her actions triggered a 381-day boycott of the Montgomery bus system which inspired a series of events leading to the end of legalized segregation in the United States and a heightened awareness of human and civil rights worldwide.

Mrs. Parks was a woman who exhibited dignity with pride, courage with perseverance, and an ever-present quiet strength. Her legacy will live on through the Rosa & Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, which she co-founded in 1987. The mission of the Institute is to encourage youth ages 11 to 17 to reach their highest potential. The Institute's flagship program "Pathways to Freedom" gives youth from around the world the opportunity to retrace the steps of the Underground Railroad and the Civil Rights Movement and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

The Rosa & Raymond Parks Institute is sponsoring a 381-day commemorative schedule starting December 1, 2005 in recognition of the 50th anniversary of Mrs. Parks' arrest and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. This commemoration will also celebrate her life's work with young people through the Rosa & Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development. The activities and programs planned during this period will celebrate Mrs. Parks' life work and engage young people through the Rosa & Raymond Parks Institute.

Funeral arrangements are in progress to facilitate the public acknowledgement of the death of Mrs. Parks, her family, the Institute and the world. In keeping with Mrs. Parks' philosophy of quiet strength, the Institute endeavors to educate, to remember, to lift and kennel spirits to change.