BY CECE HOLLOWAY

December 1st is a milestone in the civil rights movement in the United States. It’s the calendar day, back in 1955, when a Black woman named Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat for a white passenger on Alabama’s segregated bus, triggering a massive bus boycott that kickstarted civil rights protests across the United States.

Rosa Parks Day is celebrated primarily by the African American communities in parts of the United States to commemorate the courage of the Alabaman seamstress and to promote civil rights, fairness, and equal opportunities that Parks stood for. Church and political leaders use the occasion to bring together members of the communities, calling for equal treatment for Blacks. However, despite the organization of special events to mark the occasion, it is not a public holiday. Schools, offices, and businesses operate normally.

Black lawmakers, led by the Congressional Black Caucus, have been pushing for December 1st to be a national holiday, like Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and similar holidays that honor historical American leaders.

On January 12, 2023, U.S. Reps. Steven Horsford (NV-04), Terri Sewell (AL-07), and Joyce Beatty (OH-03), along with 30 of their colleagues, introduced H.R. 308, the Rosa Parks Day Act, to designate December 1st as a federal holiday honoring Rosa Parks. Representative Steven Horsford, Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, CBC, said on the occasion: “Rosa Parks is an icon in the story of civil rights and justice for Black Americans. Her brave and bold actions helped launch a movement for progress and equality, and her story must continue to be told as part of our nation’s history.” She added: “I am proud to co-sponsor this legislation to designate December 1st as Rosa Parks Day, to ensure that all Americans recognize the struggles we have endured as a nation to create a more perfect union.”

For his part, Rep. Terri Sewell who represents the 7th district of Alabama, the very state where Rosa Parks lived, said he was proud that his very first bill in the 118th Congress was the introduction of the Rosa Parks Day Act. He went on to say: “On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks sat so that this nation could stand up for the values that our democracy holds so dear. Her quiet, dignified courage helped inspire the Civil Rights Movement and changed this country for the better. As the U.S. Representative for Montgomery, I’m committed to ensuring the memory of Rosa Parks’ brave sacrifice is never forgotten by designating December 1st as a federal holiday in her honor.”

That was January 12 of this year.

But the push continued. Yesterday, Wednesday, November 29, several U.S. legislators in the lower chamber, including CBC chairman Steven Horsford, Reps. Terri Sewell of Alabama, and André Carson of Indiana, held a press conference at the U.S. Capitol to push again for the Rosa Parks Day Act.

If the legislators’ wish becomes reality, Rosa Parks would be the first woman in U.S. history to have a federal holiday to her name.