Rosa Parks was a civil rights advocate and icon.  She came to Jacksonville on many occasions including in 1986,1994 and 1996. Ms. Parks was also at the Sheraton St. Johns on one stop banquet for the Florida Voters League. She also spoke at the SCLC convention in Jacksonville in 1886.  In 1994, Ms. Parks talked about her days of segregation reported by news stations when she visited Edward Waters College. 

On one of her visits Mrs. Parks had been traveling the country commemorating the 40th year bus boycott.  On this  particular day, she was being honored at the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce which was “by invitation-only”.  The day I got invited in to see her was a Wednesday, February 7, 1996.  On that day in history a photograph of Mars was featured by NASA,  the number one song in the US, ”One Sweet Day”, sung by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men and I was invited in to meet and greet Rosa Parks at the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce. 

It was late afternoon on Wednesday when I went to the First Baptist church in downtown Jacksonville, got my children settled into their classes and was heading up the back stairs of the singles building on Church street to go to my meeting.   A friend of mine said, “Hey, why are you here?  I thought you would be photographing Rosa Parks?  She’s at the Jacksonville Chamber just down the street”.  I had no idea but with a thanks to my friend and having my camera in the car, I immediately turned around and went out the door to head to the chamber.    When I got to the chamber of commerce door there was a very large sign to my left in the glass window announcing Ms. Parks visit. I noted immediately that it said, “By invitation only”.  Not long after I read the signage,  Bob Ingram, a tall black man, walked up, held the door for me and said, “Let’s go, Ms Parks is waiting for us”. I was personally invited in and the rest is history.

The day I met Ms. Parks I had a broken arm with a cast.  That cast caused her to motion for me to come and sit by her. She looked straight in my eyes and patted the seat next to her and motioned for me to come sit.  I walked over, sat down and we had much to talk about.  She wanted to know what happened and from that conversation, we had many others including talking about her journey having refused to move her seat and give it to a white man.   Before the evening was over, Mrs Parks and I were BFF(Best Friends Forever).  Certainly I was honoured.

Rosa Parks started a huge movement in 1955 as she was fined $14 for not giving up her seat to a white person as it was considered “a deliberate act of civil disobedience”.   On that day she was arrested which brought about a boycott.  This lead to more than 90 other defendants in other cases sparking a total change to the way black people were viewed and treated.  The boycott according the to to library of Congress lasted 381 days and led to a 1956 Supreme Court decision banning segregation on public transportation. ( Library of Congress). And now, she has her own station named in her honor in Jacksonville.

Mrs.Parks was born February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama.  She was 83 the day I met her having a birthday only a few days prior.   She married Raymond Parks and attended and was a member of the AME serving at St. Paul AME church in Montgomery, Al.  She is said to have served as a stewardess and Sunday School teacher, another thing we had in common.

Rosa Parks died on October 24, 2005 at her home in Detroit, Michigan.   She was captioned as the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”.  There are  many who give her credit for the fame of Martin Luther King as he took on her cause making important changes to freedom for all.  

On October 29, 2005 at her hometown church in Montgomery a memorial was held. So many special and important people came to honor her life  such as then, Secretary of State,  Condi Rice,MLK III, the son of M. L. King, the Reverend Joseph Lowry; co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with MLK, jr., Reverend. Al Sharpton, actress, Cicely Tyson and more.  The AME church was full with hundreds outside as well. I was in that group and proud to have met her personally years ago.

Parks body was carried from the Ross-Clayton Funeral home in Montgomery, transferred to a horse drawn carriage and taken to the AME church on N. Ripley Street for the memorial service. She had died of natural causes at the age of 92.  Mrs .Parks was taken from the funeral home in a white hearse and then transferred to a horse-drawn carriage for public viewing. to a I walked behind the carriage that day was  thankful to have met her and vowing that I would seek to stand up for what is right in a world gone wrong.

After the celebration of her life in Montgomery , Rosa Parks was flown to Washington DC for 2 days as the nation paid its respect.  Those attending her Washington Memorial service were many such as President George W. Bush and First Lady, Laura, Majority Leader Bill Frist, Minority Leader Harry Reid, Secretary of State Condoleeezza Rice, Oprah Winfrey, Julian Bond, U. S. Ted Kennedy, former President and First Lady, and Bill and Hillary Clinton and many more.

February 27, 2013 a statue was unveiled in the U. S. Capital in National Statuary Hall of Mrs. Parks. 

Sources: Personal experience, Wikipedia, Google, Library Congress, St. Pauls’ AME church,Henry Ford Museum. Photos:Public domain, Police dept., Nan Ramey.