Laketran and Geauga Transit, both located in northeastern Ohio, will honor the life and legacy of Rosa Parks through a weeklong tribute recognizing her courage and the lasting impact of her actions on civil rights in America. Rosa Parks, born February 4, became a symbol of strength and resistance in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery, AL. Her decision helped ignite the Montgomery Bus Boycott and propelled the nation forward in the fight for equality. Today, she is remembered as the "Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement."
It was 70 years ago when four African Americans were sitting in the fifth row of a bus in Montgomery. As one white man had to stand towards the front, the driver asked the four to get up and move towards the back of the bus. Three did; one did not the rest is history. Or so many American kids might think when they first read the story of Rosa Parks in school.