DART honors civil rights anniversary

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is commemorating the 60th anniversary of Rosa Parks’ decision to keep her seat on a Montgomery, Ala. city bus marking a new phase of the civil rights movement with the installation of two plaques at DART’s Rosa Parks Plaza in Downtown Dallas.

Parks’ non-violent action on Dec. 1, 1955 led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott that culminated one year later with a U. S. Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing access to public transportation.

"We cannot overstate the significance of her simple and brave act. Her decision to keep her seat reminds all of us to focus on the larger issues of equality, opportunity and hope for the future," DART President/Executive Director Gary Thomas said.

U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson and officials from the city of Dallas and DART were on hand Monday for the ceremony honoring Parks.

"Rosa Parks’ action that day set about a beginning of more understanding," Johnson said. "To see that people of color have the same desires, same wishes, same interest in a good life as everyone else."
 

Students from the Irma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School and the Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy also performed at the ceremony.

The front seat of more than 500 DART buses will be reserved on Dec. 1, 2015 to honor the 60th anniversary. A sign will remind all passengers of Parks’ decision to take a stand simply by taking a seat. Rosa Parks Plaza, opened in 2009, is the only civil rights monument in Downtown Dallas.