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Statue honoring Parks could become a reality
Kerry, Obama, and Jackson Jr. lead the charge to build statue in the Capitol
Hazel Trice Edney, NNPA Washington Correspondent
Issue date: 11/10/05 Section: POLITICS
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"[She] was more than the 'Mother of the civil rights movement.' Her dignified leadership inspired others to engage in courageous acts," says Jackson in a statement: "She burst on the scene before Pope John Paul II was able to use his pontifical office to oppose communism. And when those in Eastern Europe struggling for independence from the Soviet Union sang, 'We Shall Overcome,' they were paying tribute to Rosa Parks."
Jackson's bill. H.R. 4145, was introduced Oct. 26, two days after Parks died of natural causes in her home in Detroit. U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) has introduced a similar bill, S.B. 1959. "It will emphasize, in no uncertain terms, the values that have broken down and the great contributions that African Americans have made," Kerry told the NNPA.
"Since she is the mother of the civil rights movement, it is appropriate for her to be there, and it would be a wonderful statement to everyone in America."
Parks is revered for her 1955 refusal to give up her Montgomery bus seat for a White man, the stance that fueled a bus boycott that lasted 382 days. The statues in the hall have been donated to honor those of note. There are 100 statues, two from each state. Fifty are in the hall, others are distributed throughout the Capitol for aesthetics and to prevent too much weight in one area, according to the office of the House clerk.
All of those honored are White; 92 men and eight women. They are from various walks of life, including inventors, lawyers, orators and politicians. Those memorialized in the collection from Parks' native state of Alabama are Gen. Joseph Wheeler, a senior Cavalry officer in the Confederate Army and member of Congress for 18 years; and Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry, also a former member of Congress, who served in the Confederate Congress, was a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army and a staff aid to Wheeler.