Alabama’s Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) immortalized civil rights icon Rosa Parks with the unveiling of a new monument at the Legacy Plaza in downtown Montgomery.
The sculpture was revealed before EJI staff and local community members on Feb. 14. EJI said the activist’s figure is the first of three planned monuments honoring leaders of America’s civil rights movement to be erected at the plaza across from EJI’s Legacy Museum.
“This Black History Month, on Valentine’s Day, there are
many of us who want to express our love, appreciation, and gratitude to Mrs. Rosa Parks, whose extraordinary leadership inspired the whole world,” EJI Director Bryan Stevenson shared during the ceremony. “As someone who had the privilege of spending time with Mrs. Parks, I can affirm that she had the kind of power and conviction that could absolutely change the world. We are thrilled to honor her at Legacy Plaza.”According to AL.com, future statues at the Legacy
Plaza will memorialize Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the late Congressman John Lewis; however, Stevenson said starting with Parks is significant because she played a crucial role in the early stages of the city’s activism. “Mrs. Parks, of course, was the force behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which was really the beginning of the most dramatic era of civil rights activism in Montgomery,” Stevenson said. “And while Dr. King led the community during that time, it was Mrs. Parks’ act, it was her character, it was her reputation that allowed the entire community to say ‘we’re in.’”The meaningful event brought together many who knew Parks first-hand, including fellow civil rights champion Doris Crenshaw, Montgomery’s Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute founder; Georgette Norman, ex-director of Montgomery’s Rosa Parks Museum; and Dr. Tommie Tonea Stewart, Dean at Alabama State University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts.
Created by esteemed Atlanta-based sculptor Basil Watson, famous for his MLK monument
near Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the seated monument of the “first lady of civil rights” resides alongside Legacy Plaza’s existing brick sculpture that salutes civil rights. A mural created by Kevin King is also on display at the plaza.RELATED CONTENT: Congress Introduces Bill To Make Rosa Parks Day A Federal Holiday