WASHINGTON – House Democrats introduced the Rosa Parks Day Act on Tuesday, which would have been Rosa Parks’s 112th birthday. The bill was reintroduced by Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) and, if passed, will designate December 1st as the first federal holiday honoring a woman.
“This effort is very personal to me. I get to stand here as Alabama’s first black Congresswoman because amazing freedom fighters like Rosa Parks were unafraid to challenge the status quo,” she said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Coinciding with Black History Month, the introduction of this bill commemorates Rosa Parks’s historic arrest in Montgomery, Alabama, on Dec. 1, 1955, which led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Congress members emphasized the importance of continuing Rosa Parks’s legacy through this holiday.
“It’s not just a day off, it’s a day to teach, to reflect and to encourage that every child in America knows Rosa Parks, understands her impact and carries forward her call to justice,” said Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio).
Beatty said this bill comes at a crucial time with President Trump’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) order.
“I think this is so important at this critical time, because it allows our young people, black, white and brown, to have a part of American history to be celebrated,” she said. “It’s time for Congress to act. Let’s pass the Rosa Parks Day Act and let’s give this American hero, no this American shero, the national recognition that she deserves.”
Sewell said she hopes for bipartisan support on this bill, which currently has 57 co-sponsors, and will seek that support in both the House and the Senate.
“We in the Congressional Black Caucus, we in the Alabama delegation, will work tirelessly to make this bill a reality,” she said.
