Breaking News: Rosa Parks (1913-2005)

RIP: Rosa Parks (1913-2005)

Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks has died, Local 4 has learned.

Parks, 92, reportedly died around 7 p.m. Monday at St. John Hospital on Detroit's east side.

Parks' refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Ala., in 1955 landed her in jail and sparked a bus boycott that is considered the start of the modern civil rights movement. The bus is on display at the Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn.

Parks, was born Feb. 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Ala. She lived in Detroit

May she rest in peace. I've been to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. She was a great American patriot.

AP Obit

She was an extraordinary human and deserves our respect. She started the civil rights movement when she refused to give up her seat and for that we are very grateful. Please kep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

Jerry Lundergan did release a statement tonight:

KDP Chairman Jerry Lundergan tonight expressed profound sympathy on behalf of all Kentucky Democrats. The expression came in response to the passing of the mother of the civil right movements, Rosa Parks. "By sitting she stood for all of us. Her humble act, followed by a firm determination for non-violent action, set a standard we should seek today as we seek remedy to injustice."

Senator Bayh released a statement this morning:

"Rosa Parks was living proof of the power that lies within each of us to overcome injustice and challenge the status quo. It was my honor as Governor of Indiana to present her with the Sagamore of the Wabash, Indiana’s highest honor, in recognition of her contributions to the civil rights movement. In her quiet refusal to give up her bus seat, Rosa Parks became an inspiration for generations of American, and I am sure that her legacy will continue to inspire millions more in the years to come."

Other leaders have done so as well.

"The nation lost a courageous woman and a true American hero. A half century ago, Rosa Parks stood up not only for herself, but for generations upon generations of Americans. Her quiet fight for equality sounded the bells of freedom for millions." — Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

Congressman Ben Chandler has also released a statement on the passing of Rosa Parks: "In December of 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus in Alabama. This single act led to not only a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama but a national civil rights movement. The courage and bravery shown by Rosa Parks will forever inspire and impact the lives of all Americans who struggle for equality and fight against discrimination. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Mrs. Parks who altered American history by igniting a national awakening to the injustices and degradation suffered by American citizens at that time. Rosa Parks will always be an American heroine and a legendary figure of social justice."